Trent Alexander-Arnold and Phil Foden among Golden Boy 2018 nominees

Alexander-Arnold will join a star studded list of previous winners if he is crowned 2018's Golden Boy by journalists later on this year

Reuben Pinder

Trent Alexander-Arnold and Phil Foden among Golden Boy 2018 nominees

Previous winners of the award include Lionel Messi, Paul Pogba and Kylian Mbappé

Young England stars Phil Foden, Ryan Sessegnon and Trent Alexander-Arnold have been nominated for the 2018 Golden Boy award.

The award is given to the best player under the age of 21 around the world, and the list of previous winners is star-studded.

The only outlier on the list of previous winners is Anderson, previously of Manchester United, who never went on to fulfil his potential. But the likes of Lionel Messi, Wayne Rooney and Cesc Fàbregas all feature among the list of previous winners and went on to achieve great things in their club careers.

Journalists from around the world will vote on which young star will be crowned 2018’s Golden Boy later this year.

Liverpool’s Alexander-Arnold is expected to be a contender after he nailed down a starting spot in Liverpool’s first team, played in a Champions League final and was selected to be part of England’s World Cup squad.

This year’s nominees are:

Achraf Hakimi – Real Madrid

Carles Aleña – Barcelona

Trent Alexander-Arnold – Liverpool

Kevin Adou Amian – Toulouse

Houssem Aouar – Lyon

Musa Barrow – Atalanta

Sander Berge – Genk

Brahim Diaz – Manchester City

Justin Bijlow – Feyenoord

Josip Brekalo – Wolfsburg

Patrick Cutrone – Milan