Ghana midfielder Andre Ayew was on Monday nominated for the Tuttosport 2011 "Golden Boy" Award.
The Olympique Marseille ace must battle it out with 40 other candidates including Barcelona's Thiago Alcantara, Lille's Eden Hazard and Mario Gotze who plays for Dortmund.
The 21-year-old is joined on the list by Nigeria's Joel Obi of Inter Milan.
The prestigious award is presented to the World's best Under-21 player and the likes of Barcelona's Cesc Fabregas and Mario Balotelli are recent recipients.
Tuttosport's panel includes high calibre journalists from Europe's biggest sports and newspapers.