The shortlist for the 2018 Golden Boy award has been released. It contains 40 names, all of whom will be hoping to lift the same trophy the likes of Isco, Paul Pogba, Raheem Sterling and Kylian Mbappe already have.
Here, B/R sifts through the list, ditches over half of it and selects the 15 most deserving candidates, ranked.
Deciding which names to leave aside wasn't a difficult process. Considering the award is given based on how strong a calendar year the player has had, it's remarkable that players like Nicolo Zaniolo (93 first-team minutes in 2018) and Jota (yet to make his first-team bow for Benfica) are included.