Authoritative Italian Football website, Tuttosport has announced the nominees of its eagerly anticipated 2012 Edition of the European Golden Boy, an award for the most talented footballer aged below 21 years.

The winner of the award will be revealed in December at a ceremony in Turin. 30 respected journalists from Marca, The Times, Bild, L'Equipe, Tuttosport and  De Telegraaf will chose the most worthy player to succeed  Borussia Dortmund's Mario Gotze.

Nigeria international and CSKA Moscow winger Ahmed Musa has been nominated for the second year in a role. Also making the shortlist is David Alaba (Bayern Munich) who has Nigeria heritage.

Nominees
David Alaba - Bayern Munich
Jano Ananidze - Spartak Moscow
Christian Atsu - FC Porto
Jean-Christophe Bahebeck - Troyes
Joel Campbell - Real Betis
Luc Castaignos - FC Twente
Thibaut Courtois - Atletico Madrid
Philippe Coutinho - Inter
Gerard Deulofeu - Barcelona
Julian Draxler - Schalke
Dudu - Dynamo Kyiv
Stephan El Shaarawy - AC Milan
Christian Eriksen - Ajax
Mario Gotze - Borussia Dortmund
John Guidetti - Manchester City
Isco - Malaga
Jese - Real Madrid
Ola John - Benfica
Vaclav Kadlec - Sparta Prague
Koke - Atletico Madrid
Mateo Kovacic - Dinamo Zagreb
Milan Lalkovic - Vitoria Guimaraes
Erik Lamela - Roma
Jurgen Locadia - PSV Eindhoven
Samuele Longo - Espanyol
Lazar Markovic - Partizan Belgrade
Bruno Martins Indi - Feyenoord
Iker Muniain - Athletic Bilbao
Ahmed Musa - CSKA Moscow
Pedro Obiang - Sampdoria
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain - Arsenal
Magomed Ozdoev - Lokomotiv Moscow
Paul Pogba - Juventus
Mohamed Salah - Basel
Jonjo Shelvey - Liverpool
Raheem Sterling - Liverpool
Raphael Varane - Real Madrid
Marco Verratti - Paris Saint-Germain
Granit Xhaka - Borussia Monchengladbach