Liverpool have three players on the long-list for the European Golden Boy award for 2018, acknowledging the wealth of young talent on Merseyside.
The award was established in 2003 by Italian newspaper Tuttosport, with a host of publications including the Times, L’Equipe and Bild all involved in voting.
Last year’s winner was Paris Saint-Germain striker Kylian Mbappe, who announced himself in style at the World Cup with a two-goal display in France’s 4-3 win over Argentina in the last 16.
Previous honours have been bestowed to the likes of Paul Pogba, Mario Gotze, Sergio Aguero and Lionel Messi, with Raheem Sterling the only player so far to have won while at Liverpool.
But the latest award could be making its way to Anfield, with Tuttosport revealing the 100 players nominated, with three young Reds included.
Trent Alexander-Arnold heads the list after a stunning breakthrough campaign that saw him start in the Champions League final and make his competitive debut for England at the World Cup.
He is joined by Ben Woodburn who, despite struggling for first-team minutes under Jurgen Klopp last season, remains a standout for both club and country.
Interestingly, they are joined by last season’s U23s captain Herbie Kane, who was drafted into Klopp’s training squad in the closing weeks of 2017/18 but is still not a prominent feature at Melwood.
They are up against a strong group, including previous Liverpool targets Christian Pulisic (Borussia Dortmund), Kai Havertz (Bayer Leverkusen) and Houssem Aouar (Lyon).
Davor Lovren (Fortuna Dusseldorf), brother of Reds centre-back Dejan, is also included, while a variety of English youngsters will be vying for the award too.
Those include Tom Davies (Everton), Phil Foden (Man City), Angel Gomes (Man United) and Callum Hudson-Odoi (Chelsea), with their presence highlighting how Rhian Brewster has been overlooked.
Mbappe will be favourite to retain the prize, however, having scored 21 goals and assisted 16 in 44 games in his first season in Paris.
However, Alexander-Arnold will certainly have a strong claim to be named European Golden Boy, vindicating Klopp’s faith in the teenager following injury to Nathaniel Clyne.
The West Derby native is likely to head into the new campaign as first-choice right-back, with Clyne serving as his deputy and Joe Gomez also available.
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