Ireland and Southampton striker Michael Obafemi has made the 80 man shortlist for the 2020 Golden Boy award. The Shortlist has been cut down from 100 players to 80 by the Italian Newspaper Tuttosport who present the award.
To qualify for the award the player must be under the age of 21 and be playing play in a European nation's top tier.
Obafemi, who has made 19 appearances for his club in the league this season, scoring three goals has one assist, is nominated alongside some of Europe's top young stars, including Jadon Sancho, Erling Haaland and Mason Greenwood for the award. No Irish player has ever won the award which was first awarded in 2003 to then Ajax midfielder Rafael van der Vaart.
Athletico Madrid's João Félix won the award last year, while previous winners include Lionel Messi, Alexandre Pato, and Paul Pogba.
Previous winners of the Golden Boy award:
2003 Rafael van der Vaart
2004 Wayne Rooney
2005 Lionel Messi
2006 Cesc Fàbregas
2007 Sergio Agüero
2008 Anderson
2009 Alexandre Pato
2010 Mario Balotelli
2011 Mario Götze
2012 Isco
2013 Paul Pogba
2014 Raheem Sterling
2015 Anthony Martial
2016 Renato Sanches
2017 Kylian Mbappé
2018 Matthijs de Ligt
2019 João Félix
Obafemi was Southampton's youngest ever player to play in the Premier League when he made his debut for the side in 2018 at just 17 years and 199 days old. The Dublin born striker recently came to his side's rescue when he scored a late equaliser six minutes into added time against Manchester United on Monday.
You can vote for who you think should be the 2020 Golden Boy here.
