Marcus Rashford tops English nominations for Golden Boy award

A total of six English players are in contention for this year's prize - more than any other country

Marcus Rashford has made a strong start to life this season at United (Getty)

Marcus Rashford has been named among six English contenders for this year’s Golden Boy award.

The Manchester United forward joins the likes of Ousmane Dembele and Kylian Mbappe, who is expected to be crowned Europe’s best player under 21, in the 25-man shortlist.

Rashford finished second 12 months ago, having been pipped by Bayern Munich’s on-loan Swansea midfielder Renato Sanches, and tops this year’s English cohort with Dominic Solanke and Joe Gomez (Liverpool), Dominic Calvert-Lewin (Everton), Kyle Walker-Peters (Tottenham) and Reece Oxford (West Ham) all up for nomination.

Gabriel Jesus of Manchester City has also been nominated. A total of seven Premier League players are in contention for the award.

The prize, founded in 2003, is run by the Italian newspaper Tuttosport and will be decided by a panel of 30 journalists.

The 25-man list:

Aarón Martin, Espanyol; Jean-Kévin Augustin, RB Leipzig; Rodrigo Bentacur, Juventus; Steven Bergwijn, PSV Eindhoven; Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Everton; Federico Chiesa, Fiorentina; Ousmane Dembélé, Barcelona; Amadou Diawara, Napoli; Kasper Dolberg, Ajax; Gianluigi Donnarumma, Milan; Gabriel Jesus, Manchester City; Joe Gomez, Liverpool; Benjamin Henrichs, Bayer Leverkusen; Borja Mayoral, Real Madrid; Kylian Mbappé, Paris Saint-Germain; Emre Mor, Celta Vigo; Reece Oxford, Borussia Mönchengladbach; Christian Pulisic, Borussia Dortmund; Marcus Rashford, Manchester United; Allan Saint-Maximim, Nice; Dominic Solanke, Liverpool; Theo Hernandez, Real Madrid; Youri Tielemans, Monaco; Enes Ünal, Villarreal; Kyle Walker-Peters, Tottenham.