Mbappe named Golden Boy ahead of Dembele, Rashford

Paris Saint-Germain star Kylian Mbappe was named Golden Boy 2017 on Monday ahead of Barcelona’s Ousmane Dembele and Marcus Rashford of Manchester United. 

The France international came to prominence with Monaco’s swashbuckling Ligue 1 title-winning side last season, scoring 15 league goals and also helping them to the Champions League semi-finals.

He made the switch to PSG – initially on a loan deal which will become permanent for €180million next year – and has enjoyed a seamless transition, scoring four goals and setting up another five in nine appearances across the Champions League and Ligue 1.

Italian newspaper Tuttosport, which runs the award given to the best player in Europe under the age of 21, announced on Saturday that Mbappe had been joined in the final three by Dembele and Gabriel Jesus of Manchester City, but the results published on Monday showed Rashford third with four more voting points (76) than the Brazilian (72).

Mbappe (291) and Dembele (149) were some way ahead, with the PSG star succeeding Renato Sanches – who failed to make the top 10 – as the winner of the award.

There was a strong Serie A interest in the remainder of the top 10, with Gianluigi Donnarumma, Federico Chiesa and Rodrigo Bentancur, while Emre Mor, Christian Pulisic and Kasper Dolberg were also present.