Liverpool forward Ben Woodburn been named among Tuttosport’s nominees for the European Golden Boy award for 2017, marking the teenager’s rise.
Woodburn made his full Premier League debut in Saturday’s 2-1 win away to Stoke City, serving as another major milestone for the Wales youth, despite being withdrawn at half-time.
At 17, Woodburn has already made eight appearances for the Reds, and became the club’s youngest-ever goalscorer when he found the back of the net in November’s 2-0 win at home to Leeds United in the League Cup.
Jurgen Klopp clearly has great faith in the youngster, and Woodburn looks set to continue his progress into a key role at Anfield in the near future.
He is already following in the footsteps of Raheem Sterling, by being recognised as part of the European Golden Boy picture for 2017.
Established by Italian publication Tuttosport, all nominees for the award must be under the age of 21 and playing in one of Europe’s top-tier competitions.
Woodburn has been named alongside 97 other players vying to be acknowledged for their progress.
Sterling won the award in 2014, owing to his key role for Liverpool throughout the 2013/14 campaign, while Anthony Martial won in 2015.
Last year, Marko Grujic was named in the 40-man list announced in September, but lost out to Renato Sanches.
Woodburn will face major competition for the award, with Anderlecht’s Youri Tielemans among those also up for contention.
Tielemans, who has been linked with a £21 million summer move to Liverpool, has scored 18 goals and assisted a further 11 in 43 appearances in all competitions this season.
Theo Hernandez, the Atletico Madrid left-back who has also been rumoured to be on Klopp’s radar, is also included, with Monaco’s Kylian Mbappe, Ajax’s Kasper Dolberg and AC Milan goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma among the highlights.
Borussia Dortmund duo Christian Pulisic and Ousmane Dembele, who both turned down moves to Anfield last summer, will also be hopeful of winning.
While Woodburn’s fellow Reds academy graduate Trent Alexander-Arnold has been overlooked, 12 other Premier League players have been listed.
Man City‘s Gabriel Jesus, Enes Unal, Tosin Adarabioyo and Pablo Maffeo, Tottenham‘s Cameron Carter-Vickers and Man United‘s Timothy Fosu-Mensah and Marcus Rashford are all included.
Everton‘s Tom Davies, West Brom‘s Jonathan Leko, Stoke City‘s Thibaud Verlinden and Sobhy Ramadan and Chelsea‘s Dominic Solanke also make the cut.
Bayern Munich star Sanches will be one of the favourites for the award, and could become the first player to do so on two occasions.
You can vote for Woodburn as European Golden Boy for 2017 here.
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