Wolves teen makes shortlist for award won by Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe ahead of Leeds United clash

Established by Italian sports newspaper Tuttosport in 2003, the award is for players aged under 21 and given by sports journalists to the young footballer perceived to have enjoyed the best calendar year playing in a European league top tier.

Rafael van der Vaart became the first winner of the award in 2003 and the likes of Lionel Messi, Wayne Rooney, Cesc Fabregas, Sergio Aguero and Kylian Mbappe feature on the roll of honour.

Atletico Madrid's former Benfica star Joao Felix took the accolade in 2019 and now Wolves star Silva is one of six Premier League players to have made the final list of 20, reduced from an original 100 named in June.

Portuguese under-19s forward Silva features alongside fellow Premier League players Phil Foden (Manchester City), Mason Greenwood (Manchester United), Callum Hudson-Odoi (Chelsea), Bukayo Sako (Arsenal) and Ferran Torres (Manchester City).

The list also features Borussia Dortmund's Leeds-born forward Erling Haaland as well as Dortmund club mate and England international Jadon Sancho plus Barcelona's Spanish international wonderkid Ansu Fati.

Silva burst on to the scene at FC Porto last season at just 17 years of age in becoming the club's youngest ever player and goalscorer.

Wolves then signed the teenager for a club record fee of £35m in September and the 18-year-old striker has so far made two Premier League outings from the bench in the second half of the 3-1 loss at home to Manchester City and the 4-0 defeat at West Ham.

His Wolves debut came when playing the full 90 minutes of the 1-0 loss at home to Stoke City in the September EFL Cup tie.

GOLDEN BOY 2020 FINAL SHORTLIST

Mitchel Bakker (PSG)

Eduardo Camavinga (Rennes)

Jonathan David (Lille)

Alphonso Davies (Bayern Munich)

Sergino Dest (Ajax)

Fabio Silva (Wolves)

Ansu Fati (Barcelona)

Phil Foden (Manchester City)

Ryan Gravenberch (Ajax)

Mason Greenwood (United)

Erling Haaland (Borussia Dortmund)

Callum Hudson-Odoi (Chelsea)

Dejan Kulusevski (Juventus)

Rodrygo (Real Madrid)

Bukayo Sako (Arsenal)

Jadon Sancho (Borussia Dortmund)

Dominik Szoboszlai (RB Salzburg)

Sandro Tonali (Milan)

Ferran Torres (Manchester City)

Vinicius Jnr (Real Madrid)

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Thank you Laura Collins