Rasmus Hojlund nominated for Golden Boy award as Manchester United teammate misses out

Manchester United striker Rasmus Hojlund remains in contention for the Golden Boy award after making the final shortlist.

The accolade is won by Europe's brightest Under-21 talent during a calendar year and, after being won by Rafael van der Vaart in its inaugural ceremony back in 2003, the award has an illustrious roll of honour.

Wayne Rooney, Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe have all won the award and Hojlund has made the final 25-man shortlist after an initial 100 names were reduced to exclusively the continent's best young talent.

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Hojlund joined United in a deal worth £72million from Atalanta this summer and although a back injury delayed his debut, the striker has now settled into life wearing a red shirt and he's scored three goals in eight appearances.

The 20-year-old scored a brace in United's 3-2 defeat against Galatasaray and he admitted it was a bittersweet moment after the game. "It's a little bit difficult. I feel happy and not happy at the same time," said Hojlund.

"Of course, it's not about the individual performance, it's about getting the three points and at the moment we're not good enough."

Although Hojlund has made the final shortlist for the award, Jude Bellingham is the strong favourite to claim the prize, which has been won in the last three years by Erling Haaland and Barcelona's highly regarded youngsters Pedri and Gavi.

Alejandro Garnacho was on the original Golden Boy shortlist but the winger has not been included on the final 25-man list.

The winner of the award is decided by journalists' votes and an award ceremony will take place in Turin on December