The "Golden Boy" award was created by the Italian magazine Tuttosport in 2003 to mark the best players in the European leagues for 21 years. The previous award winners do not go down for the hacks, and among the players who have been awarded the prize are among others Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappé, Wayne Rooney, Paul Pogba, Mario Götze and Sergio Agüero.
This year there is a Swedish, Real Sociedad striker Alexander Isak, on the list of those who can get the prize. The 20-year-old remains when the number of nominees has been cut further, from 80 to 40 players.
Isak broke through in 2016 when he scored ten goals for AIK in his all-Swedish debut season and was named newcomer of the year. He became the youngest national goalscorer of all time the following year and in the same vein became ready for German big club Borussia Dortmund. After a heavy time in Germany, Isaac was loaned out to Dutch Willem II last winter where he made great success, before moving permanently to Spain and Real Sociedad this summer.
In Sociedad, Isaac got off to a great start and this weekend he made his first league goal for the club.
However, competition for the "Golden Boy" award is razor sharp. Other nominees include players such as Juventus Matthijs de Ligt (who received the award last year), Manchester City's Phil Foden, Atlético Madrid's João Felix, Dortmund's Jadon Sancho and Norwegian great talent Erling Braut Haaland, Salzburg.