Halilovic and Marco Asensio among this year's Golden Boy nominees
Alen Halilovic, Marco Asensio and Tonny Sanabria are among the 40 youngsters up for the award
Fomer FC Barcelona player Alen Halilovic, who joined Hamburg with an option for the Catalan club to re-sign him, is one of 40 players up for the Golden Boy prize which is organised by Italian newspaper 'Tuttosport'.
Even though he now plays in Germany, Halilovic's nomination arrives thanks to his performances for Sporting Gijon during the 2015/16 season. Alen was on loan at the club coached by Abelardo Fernande.
He's not the only former Barça player on the list. Tonny Sanabria, now of Real Betis, is also among the best young players in Europe to make the shortlist.
Other LaLiga Santander represtatives include Real Madrid's Marco Asensio, who was brilliant at Espanyol last season, Sevilla's Carlos Fernández and Atletico's Lucas Hernández.
Other notable inclusions are Leroy Sane (Schalke/Manchester City), Renato Sanches (Benfica/Bayern) and Dembele (Fulham/Celtic). The prize goes to the player deemed the best U21 player in Europe's top leagues.
Previous winners include Leo Messi (2005), Cesc Fabregas (2006), Isco Alarcon (2012) and Paul Pogba (2013).
Here are the 40 nominees for Golden Boy 2016:
- Leon Bailey Gante Pro League
- Youri Tielemans Anderlecht Pro League
- Julian Brandt Leverkusen Bundesliga
- Andreas Christensen Gladbach/Chelsea Bundesliga
- Kingsley Coman Bayern Bundesliga
- Mahmoud Dahoud Gladbach Bundesliga
- Ousmane Dembélé Dortmund Bundesliga
- Breel Embolo Schalke Bundesliga
- Alen Halilovic Hamburgo Bundesliga
- Renato Sanches Bayern Bundesliga
- Leroy Sané Schalke Bundesliga
- Jonathan Tah Leverkusen Bundesliga
- Ante Coric Dinamo Zagreb Croacia
- Riechedley Bazoer Ajax Eredivisie
- Nathan Vitesse Eredivisie
- Jairo Riedewald Ajax Eredivisie
- Marco Asensio Real Madrid LaLiga Santander
- Carlos Fernández Sevilla LaLiga Santander
- Lucas Hernández Atlético LaLiga Santander
- Tonny Sanabria Betis LaLiga Santander
- Gabriel Boschilia Mónaco Ligue 1
- Emmanuel Mammana Lyon Ligue 1
- Almamy Touré Mónaco Ligue 1
- Danilo Barbosa Benfica Primeira Liga
- Gonçalo Guedes Benfica Primeira Liga
- Ruben Neves Oporto Primeira Liga
- Delle Alli Tottenham Premier League
- Demaray Gray Leicester Premier League
- Marko Grujic Liverpool Premier League
- Kelechi Iheanacho Manchester City Premier League
- Alex Iwobi Arsenal Premier League
- Ruben Loftus-Cheek Chelsea Premier League
- Marcus Rashford Manchester United Premier Legaue
- Aleksandr Golovin CSKA Moscú Liga Premier
- Moussa Dembélé Celtic Scottish Premier League
- Amadou Diawara Nápoles Serie A
- Gianluigi Donnarumma Milán Serie A
- Gabriel Barbosa Inter Serie A
- Olivier Ntcham Genoa/M. City Serie A
- Viktor Kovalenko Shakhtar Liga Premier
