The prize was created by Italian media outlet Tuttosport back in 2003, and is presented to the Under-21 player who is judged to have enjoyed the most impressive calendar year.
Rafael van der Vaart won the inaugural award while playing for Ajax and the most recent winner in 2017 was Kylian Mbappe, the Paris Saint-Germain and France superstar. Wayne Rooney (2004), Anderson (2008), Paul Pogba (2013) and Anthony Martial (2015) have all previously won the award.
Dalot is among the long list of 100 nominees following his breakthrough season at FC Porto, where the right-back made seven first-team appearances in 2017/18 – including a clean sheet at Liverpool in the UEFA Champions League.