Rashford, Mbappé and Dembélé in contention for 2017 Golden Boy award

Marcus Rashford, Kylian Mbappé and Ousmane Dembélé are among the 25 contenders to win the 2017 Golden Boy award, run by the Italian newspaper Tuttosport and awarded to Europe’s most impressive footballer under the age of 21.

The prize, founded in 2003, relates to performances across a calendar year not a season, with the winner decided by a panel of 30 journalists. Among the favourites this time round are Mbappé, who joined Paris Saint-Germain on an initial loan last month after impressing for French champions and Champions League semi-finalists Monaco, and Dembélé, who now faces at least three months out with injury after completing his £97m move to Barcelona in the summer.

But Rashford, who finished as runner-up in last year’s competition to Swansea’s on-loan Portugal midfielder Renato Sanches – will also be a strong contender after impressing for Manchester United. Liverpool’s Dominic Solanke and Joe Gomez, plus Everton’s Dominic Calvin-Lewin, Kyle Walker-Peters of Tottenham and Reece Oxford of West Ham, who is currently on loan to Borussia Mönchengladbach, complete England’s total number of six representatives – more than any other country – while there is also a nomination for Manchester City’s Brazilian striker Gabriel Jesus.

Ajax’s Kasper Dolberg, Gianluigi Donnarumma of Milan and Youri Tielemans of Monaco are among the other contenders to win the award, with the result to be announced in October.

The nominees in full:

Aarón Martin Espanyol; Jean-Kévin Augustin RB Leipzig; Rodrigo Bentacur Juventus; Steven Bergwijn PSV Eindhoven; Dominic Calvert-Lewin Everton; Federico Chiesa Fiorentina; Ousmane Dembélé Barcelona; Amadou Diawara Napoli; Kasper Dolberg Ajax; Gianluigi Donnarumma Milan; Gabriel Jesus Manchester City; Joe Gomez Liverpool; Benjamin Henrichs Bayer Leverkusen; Borja Mayoral Real Madrid; Kylian Mbappé Paris Saint-Germain; Emre Mor Celta Vigo; Reece Oxford Borussia Mönchengladbach; Christian Pulisic Borussia Dortmund; Marcus Rashford Manchester United; Allan Saint-Maximim Nice; Dominic Solanke Liverpool; Theo Hernández Real Madrid; Youri Tielemans Monaco; Enes Unal Villarreal; Kyle Walker-Peters Tottenham.