Ajax defender Matthijs de Ligt has won the 2018 Golden Boy award.
The award, now in its 16th year, is given to the most promising under-21 player in Europe by Italian sports newspaper Tuttosport.
The panel, made up of newspapers around the continent, voted De Ligt, who is reportedly linked with a summer move to La Liga champions Barcelona or Premier League side Manchester United, ahead of his international teammate and Roma winger Justin Kluivert, Liverpool's Trent Alexander-Arnold, AC Milan forward Patrick Cutron and Real Madrid teenager Vinicius Junior.
Previous winners include the likes of Lionel Messi, Wayne Rooney, Anderson and Renato Sanches, while Paris-Saint German forward Kylian Mbappe took last year's award.
De Ligt's form for Ajax has seen him become a regular starter for The Netherlands under Ronald Koeman.
“I'm not in touch with anyone yet,” De Ligt told Italian outlet Tutto Mercato in the summer.
“Who would I choose between Juve, Barcelona and United? It's difficult, they're all great teams.”
This article was most recently revised and updated 4 years ago
