Hector Bellerin has been named on the 40-man shortlist for the Golden Boy award for 2015.
Award season is just around the corner in the world of football and the Golden Boy award is one of the top accolades up for grabs to the 40 players selected on the shortlist, and Arsenal’s Bellerin is one of those names.
On the shortlist, there are 13 names playing their trade in the Premier League. Manchester United duo Anthony Martial and Luke Shaw, Liverpool pair Jordon Ibe and Divock Origi and Tottenham Hotspur's Dele Alli are just some of the names to make the cut that play in the England, and Bellerin is arguably the best of this crop.
Bellerin, who joined the Gunners from Barcelona in 2013, started as Arsenal’s third choice right-back at the start of last season before making the position his own this year. The Spaniard has been one of Arsenal’s most consistent performers all year-round and, this season, Bellerin has arguably been one of the best right-backs in the Premier League. His importance to his side was typified in the north London outfit's recent 5-1 defeat to Bayern Munich, with Mathieu Debuchy failing to handle to pacey Kingsley Coman after the Spanish under-21 international was ruled out through injury.
Other big names to make the shortlist outside of the Premier League are the aforementioned Kingsley Coman of Bayern Munich, Porto captain Ruben Neves, and Barcelona youngsters Munir El Haddadi and Sandro Ramirez.
Manchester City's Raheem Sterling picked up the award last season following outstanding performances for both Liverpool and England. Arsenal's only previous winner came in 2006 when a young Cesc Fabregas was impressing at the heart of the club's midfield.
Bellerin could be considered one of the favourites to win the award this year due to how consistent the Spaniard has been for Arsenal. Bellerin is one of the few names on the list to be a first-team player for their team, and if his form continues, the 20-year-old will be in with a real shot of winning this prestigious award.
Full list of nominees:
Nathan Ake (Chelsea), Dele Alli (Tottenham), Hector Bellerin (Arsenal), Jordon Ibe (Liverpool), Kelechi Iheanacho (Manchester City), Adnan Januzaj (Manchester United), Ruben Loftus-Cheek (Chelsea), Anthony Martial (Manchester United), Divock Origi (Liverpool), Luke Shaw (Manchester United), Adama Traore (Aston Villa), Marco Asensio (Espanyol), Zakaria Bakkali (Valencia), Angel Correa (Atlético Madrid), Danilo Barbosa (Valencia), Munir El Haddadi (Barcelona), Alen Halilovic (Barcelona), Sandro Ramírez (Barcelona), Kingsley Coman (Bayern Munich), Dahoud Mahmoud (Borussia M’gladbach), Francisco Rodriguez (Wolsfburg), Pierre-Emile Hojberg (Schalke), Max Meyer (Schalke), Ricardo Kishna (Lazio), Sergej Milinkovic-Savic (Lazio), Alessio Romagnoli (Milan), Mario Pasalic (Monaco), Adrien Rabiot (PSG), Adama Traore (Monaco), Jason Denayer (Manchester City), Anwar El Ghazi (Ajax), Gaston Pereiro (PSV), Tonny Vilhena (Feyenoord), Goncalo Guedes (Benfica), Ruben Neves (Porto), Nemanja Maksimovic (Astana), Marko Pajca (Dinamo Zagreb), Moses Simon (KAA Gent), Youri Tielemans (Anderlecht), Andrija Zivkovic (Partizan Belgrade)