Kluivert, Alexander-Arnold, 3 others for Golden Boy award

Justin Kluivert, one of the nominees

The final five-man shortlist for the 2018 Golden Boy award has been revealed, with initial favourite Kylian Mbappe somewhat surprisingly being snubbed.

On Tuesday, Tuttosport announced the final five nominees for the 2018 award, which will be handed out on 17 December.

Mbappe, who won the prize last year, was initially the clear favourite after impressing for Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) and at the 2018 FIFA World Cup.

However, he did not make the final five for this year’s accolade. Instead, one of Vinicius Junior, Justin Kluivert, Matthis de Ligt, Patrick Cutrone and Trent Alexander-Arnold will claim the 16th Golden Boy award.

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The prize is given to the best U21 Player of the Year, and it is decided by 30 European journalists from 20 well-known sport publications, including Marca, L’Equipe and Bild.

Each journalist has five votes, giving their favourite 10 points, second place seven, third five, fourth three and fifth just one point. All points are then added up to calculate the winner, who must be born after 1 January 1998.

With Mbappe having won the award in 2017 and Renato Sanches lifting it in 2016, the likes of Isco (2012), Mario Gotze (2011) and Lionel Messi (2005) are also among previous winners of the famous prize.