Ajax new signee Kudus Mohammed has made it to the top 80 shortlists for the prestigious Golden Boy Award.
Kudus Mohammed, who recently joined Ajax from Nordsjælland for a fee reported to be around €9m earned a place on the 2020 top 100 Golden Boy list after putting in impressive performances for Nordsjælland week in and week out. The list has now been whittled down to 80, with Kudus still in contention.
The burgeoning midfielder made 25 appearances for Nordsjaelland this season, starting 22 of the games and scoring 11 times.
Italian outlet Tuttosport came up with the Golden Boy award in 2003 . An award for young players under the age of 21 playing in one of the top tier leagues and have been exceptional in the year under review. It has become one of Europe’s most prestigious awards
The youngster who netted on his international debut against South Africa in a African Cup of Nations qualifier (AFCON) in November will have to beat the likes of Alphonso Davies, Erling Braut Haland, Vinicius Jnr, Jadon Sancho, Gabriel Martinelli etc. to win the prestigious award.
The award has been in existence for 14 years now, Rafael van der Vaart was the first winner, he was later followed by Wayne Rooney, Lionel Messi, Cesc Fabregas and Sergio Aguero.
More recently Paul Pogba, Raheem Sterling, Kylian Mbappe and Matheus de Ligt have all won the award.
Below is the list of the players who made the list:
Maximilian James Aarons (Norwich), Abel Ruiz (Braga), Karim-David Adeyemi (RB Salzburg) Yacine Adli (Bordeaux), Marley Ake (Marseille), Ethan Ampadu (RB Leipzig), Yan Couto (Manchester City)
Adil Aouchiche (PSG), Benoît Badiashile (Monaco, Mitchel Bakker (PSG), Myron Boadu (AZ), Eduardo Camavinga (Rennes), Rayan Cherki (OL), Jayden Braaf (Manchester City), Nils Fröling (Kalmar FF)
Jonathan David (La Gantoise), Alphonso Davies (Bayern Munich), Karamoko Dembele (Celtic), Sergino Dest (Ajax), Tiago Djalo (Lille), Fabio Silva (FC Porto), Mohammed Kudus (FC Nordsjaelland, Ajax)
Sebastiano Esposito (Inter Milan), Ansu Fati (FC Barcelona), Phil Foden (Manchester City), Zeljko Gavric (Red Star Belgrade), Lutsharel Geertruida (Feyenoord), Morgan Anthony Gibbs-White (Wolves)
Matias Gonçalo Ramos (Benfica), Amine Gouiri (Lyon), Ryan Gravenberch (Ajax), Mason Greenwood (Manchester United), Erling Braut Haaland (Borussia Dortmund), Callum Hudson-Odoi (Chelsea)
Mohamed Amine Ihattaren (PSV), Curtis Jones (Liverpool), Ozan Muhammed Kabak (Schalke 04), Takefusa Kubo (Mallorca, Real Madrid), Dejan Kulusevski (Parma, Juventus), Diego Lainez (Betis), Yasser Larouci (Liverpool), Daniel Maldini (AC Milan)
Felix Khonde Mambimbi (YB Bern), Antonio Marin (Dinamo Zagreb), Alejandro José Méndez Marques (Juventus), Gabriel Martinelli (Arsenal), Tanguy Kouassi (PSG, Bayern Munich)
Nehuén Pérez (Famalicão, Atlético de Madrid), Michael Obafemi (Southampton), Paulinho (Bayer Leverkusen), Strahinja Pavlovic (Partizan, AS Monaco), Pedro Neto (Wolves)
Eduardo Quaresma (Sporting CP), Rafael Camacho (Sporting CP), Reinier (Real Madrid), Rodrygo (Real Madrid), Ionut-Casian Rus (CFR Cluj), Luqman Hakim (KV Kortrijk)
Thomas Sabitzer (LASK), Bukayo Saka (Arsenal), William Saliba (St Etienne), Jadon Sancho (Borussia Dortmund), Ryan Sessegnon (Tottenham), Musa Juwara (Bologna), Luka Romero (RCD Mallorca)
Dominik Szoboszlai (RB Salzburg), Tomás Tavarez (Benfica), Tetê (Shakhtar Donetsk), Sandro Tonali (Brescia), Ferrán Torres (Valencia FC), Giacomo Raspadori (Sassuolo), Kenny Rocha Santos (AS Saint-Etienne, AS Nancy)
Lassina Traoré (Ajax), Heorhiy Tsitaishvili (Dynamo Kiev), Yari Verschaeren (Anderlecht), Vinicius Jr (Real Madrid), Dusan Vlahovic (Fiorentina), Joshua Zirkzee (Bayern Munich)
Tomas Esteves (FC Porto), Juan Sanabria (Atletico Madrid), Tomas Tavares (Benfica), Antonio Marin (Dinamo Zagreb).
Click the link below to vote for Kudus: