Joao Felix, Jadon Sancho, Matthijs de Ligt Lead 2019 40-Man Golden Boy Shortlist

Juventus and Netherlands star Matthijs de Ligt could become the first player to win two Golden Boy trophies after he was named on the shortlist of 40 players in the running for the 2019 award. 

Atletico Madrid and Portugal forward Joao Felix will be considered among the most serious competition, as will Borussia Dortmund winger Jadon Sancho and Real Madrid attacker Vinicius Junior.

Six Premier League players remain in this year's hunt for the award given to the best under-21 player, although no players from Liverpool or Manchester United have been included.

Manchester City's Phil Foden and Chelsea counterpart Mason Mount are among them, while Arsenal are the only English club with more than one nominee after Matteo Guendouzi and Reiss Nelson made the cut.

La Liga clubs account for 10 of those named—more than any other division—while the Bundesliga and Serie A each have six representatives still left on the shortlist, per Goal.

2019 Golden Boy 40-Man Shortlist

Joao Felix (Atletico Madrid)

Matthijs de Ligt (Juventus)

Kai Havertz (Bayer Leverkusen)

Phil Foden (Manchester City)

Jadon Sancho (Borussia Dortmund)

Michael Cuisance (Bayern Munich)

Alphonso Davies (Bayern Munich)

Rodrygo Goes (Real Madrid)

Vinicius Junior (Real Madrid)

Erling Braut Haaland (RB Salzburg)

Mason Mount (Chelsea)

Gianluigi Donnarumma (AC Milan)

Rafael Leao (AC Milan)

Nicolo Zaniolo (Roma)

Justin Kluivert (Roma)

Eljif Elmas (Napoli)

Reiss Nelson (Arsenal)

Matteo Guendouzi (Arsenal)

Tom Dele-Bashiru (Watford)

Moise Kean (Everton)

Jean-Clair Todibo (Barcelona)

Alexander Isak (Real Sociedad)

Diego Lainez (Real Betis)

Kang-In Lee (Valencia)

Ferran Torres (Valencia)

Samuel Chukwueze (Villarreal)

Andriy Lunin (Real Valladolid, on loan)

Dejan Joveljic (Eintracht Frankfurt)

Ibrahima Konate (RB Leipzig)

Benoit Badiashile (Monaco)

Boubacar Kamara (Marseille)

Alban Lafont (Nantes)

Florentino Luis (Benfica)

Donyell Malen (PSV)

Luis Sinisterra (Feyenoord)

Nehuen Perez (Famalicao)

Abdulkadir Omur (Trabzonspor)

Strahinja Pavlovic (Partizan Belgrade)

Krepin Diatta (Club Brugge)

Denis Dragus (Standard Liege)

Felix joined Atletico this summer from Benfica for €126 million, and it says a lot that the money already looks to have been well spent.

The 19-year-old scored 20 goals and recorded 11 assists in his first 43 professional games for the Eagles. He won't be expected to replicate those figures right away in Spain, though the early signs have been positive:

Benfica reclaimed the Primeira Liga on the back of his breakout season, while his influence was also felt when Portugal won the inaugural UEFA Nations League this year.

French defender Jean-Clair Todibo has been named despite hardly featuring for Barcelona's first team since he joined from Toulouse in January. Rivals Real have three entrants with Vinicius, Rodrygo Goes and goalkeeper Andriy Lunin, who is on loan at Real Valladolid.

Vinicius, 19, was thrown in at the deep end and played well for Real's first team in the 2018-19 season, while 18-year-old Rodrygo only completed his move to Madrid from Santos in June.

De Ligt, 20, played a crucial role as captain of Ajax when they ran to the UEFA Champions League semi-finals last season. However, his transition to Juventus since leaving Amsterdam for Italy this summer hasn't been as easy.

He has made a couple of costly mistakes, with the competition for a place in defence considerably higher in Turin.

Nevertheless, De Ligt's contributions for Ajax last season won't be forgotten in a hurry, with the club winning the Eredivisie and KNVB Cup, via BT Sport:

Netherlands compatriot Donyell Malen has been in fine form at PSV for some time now and is one of three Dutchmen included after he recently scored a first international goal in a 4-2 win over Germany.

Borussia Dortmund's Sancho is one of five English-born players vying for the Golden Boy gong, which is of little surprise as he continues to make great strides for club and country:

Sancho is one of Dortmund's most reliable stars and has begun to show that form for England. He scored twice and set up another goal when England defeated Kosovo 5-3 in a recent UEFA Euro 2020 qualifier.

Foden's former City midfield team-mate, Tom Dele-Bashiru, didn't see his Golden Boy chances impeded after he joined Watford in the summer. Moise Kean, 19, joined Everton from Juventus in August, and he already boasts two goals in three senior appearances for Italy.

RB Salzburg striker Erling Haaland scored four hat-tricks less than one month into his stay at the Austrian outfit RB Salzburg and is another in contention for the accolade.

Haaland, 19, scored the most recent of those hat-tricks in his Champions League debut against Genk (U.S. viewers only):

BT Sport compared the Norwegian with a certain other Golden Boy winner and Manchester United legend:

De Ligt became the first defender to win the Golden Boy award in 2018, and the sheer level of attacking competition doesn't bode well for his chances of defending the title.