MARCUS RASHFORD and Dele Alli are among eight Premier League nominees for the Golden Boy award.
The honour has been handed out by TuttoSport since 2003 — and is equivalent to the Ballon d’Or for players under the age of 21.
However, victory doesn’t necessarily guarantee a good career.
We take a look back at previous winners, and look at where their success led them.
All 13 winners are still active.
Rafael van der Vaart, Ajax — 2003
YOUNGEST-EVER player to captain a club until 2015 — and was tipped to be a star.
Despite a decent career, Van der Vaart probably expected to achieve more.
After leaving Ajax, he played for Hamburg (twice), Real Madrid, Tottenham and Real Betis, before moving to FC Midtjylland in the summer.
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Wayne Rooney, Everton/Manchester United — 2004
NOT everybody’s cup of tea at the moment — but there’s no doubting his success.
Rooney has won five Premier League titles, a Champions League, is top goal scorer for England and four off achieving the same record at United. He is captain of his country and skippered club to FA Cup success.
Narrowly beat future team-mate Cristiano Ronaldo after Euro 2004.
Lionel Messi, Barcelona — 2005
ERM…he’s not done badly, has he?
The Golden Boy award set the standard for Messi. He has since won the Ballon d’Or a record FIVE times.
The Argentine is considered by many to be the greatest footballer to have ever played the game.
Cesc Fabregas, Arsenal — 2006
UNDOUBTEDLY a success — though it is up for debate whether that came with the Gunners or not.
Fabregas failed to win a trophy with Arsenal — while he filled his cabinet with medals at Barcelona, Chelsea and with the Spanish national side.
However, on a personal level, he produced his best under Arsene Wenger.
Sergio Aguero, Atletico Madrid — 2007
ANOTHER whose success cannot be questioned.
Is a hero to all Manchester City fans for his last-gasp goal which clinched the 2012 Premier League title — and will certainly be remembered as an English football great.
Aguero was a star at Atletico, who could have moved to any club in the world.
Anderson, Manchester United — 2008
“HOW?” we hear you ask — well, believe it or not, there was a point where he was pretty good.
United thought they’d signed the best prospect in football when they paid Porto £20million for Anderson.
And, after a fairly bright star, he soon dipped in form, ballooned in weight and went off the radar. Currently at Internacional.
Alexandre Pato, AC Milan — 2009
AT THIS point, his talent was unquestionable — he had ripped Real Madrid apart at the Bernabeu.
However, his form dipped so rapidly, he didn’t even make Brazil’s 2010 World Cup squad.
Returned to his homeland and then had a stint at Chelsea last season, but it was a disaster. Now at Villarreal.
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Mario Balotelli, Inter Milan/Manchester City — 2010
HOW can someone so talented have fallen so low?
Balotelli had the world at his feet when he moved to the Premier League — and showed early flashes of genius.
However, subsequent failures at AC Milan (twice) and Liverpool have seen him given one last chance to save his career with Nice in France.
Mario Gotze, Borussia Dortmund — 2011
ONCE dubbed the most talented player to come out of Germany, Bayern Munich broke the national transfer fee to sign him.
Gotze even scored a winner in the 2014 World Cup final — however, it was by coming off the bench, as he had become just a squad player.
Returned to Dortmund in the summer after an extremely underwhelming three-year stint in Bavaria.
Isco, Malaga — 2012
REAL MADRID thought they’d bought the hottest property in Spanish football when they signed Isco a year later.
Again, he started well but has struggled to nudge the likes of Luka Modric, Casemiro and Toni Kroos out of the team.
The emergence of Marco Asensio at the Bernabeu means Isco’s future is very much uncertain.
Paul Pogba, Juventus — 2013
FRENCH superstar famously left Old Trafford on a free transfer and blossomed into one of the world’s finest midfielders at Juventus.
In his four years with the Turin giants, he won the title in every season.
Pogba returned to United for a world-record fee and, after a slow start, seems to have found his feet with his first goal at the weekend.
Raheem Sterling, Liverpool — 2014
HAD the world at his feet when he won this award — and then Man City made his most expensive English player of all-time at £49m.
Presumably burdened by the fee, he struggled at the Etihad, and carried his poor form through to Euro 2016.
However, Sterling has been reborn under Pep Guardiola and is showing arguably the best form of his career so far.
Anthony Martial, Manchester United — 2015
FRENCHMAN arrived at Old Trafford for a mega fee — but very few people had ever heard of him.
However, Martial went from strength-to-strength after scoring on his debut, and sent United to the FA Cup final with a stoppage time semi-final winner.
But he has been a shadow of his former self this season, and looks desperate for a break.
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