The real reason why Mbappe was snubbed for Golden Boy award

What's the story?

Tuttosport announced the final five nominees who remain in contention to win the Golden Boy 2018 award on Tuesday.

The announcement left fans in shock as it was revealed that Kylian Mbappe, one of the best teenagers in world football right now was not included in the list.

Mbappe was tipped to become the first player in history to claim the prestigious trophy for the second time by many, because of the wonderful year he had with PSG and France.

In case you didn't know...

The Golden Boy award was established by Italian sports newspaper Tuttosport in 2003, which is awarded to the most outstanding player under the age of 21 as determined by a group of sports journalists.

It is a yearly award, which has been claimed by the likes of - Rooney, Messi and Fabregas. Kylian Mbappe won the award in 2017.

In it's 15 years of history the award has never been claimed by the same player twice, though there is no rule as such preventing any player from doing so, ESPN reported.

The heart of the matter...

Trent Alexander-Arnold, Justin Kluivert, Matthijs de Ligt, Patrick Cutrone and Vinicius Junior are the five finalist for the accolade, with holder Mbappe not in contention.

Massimo Franchi, who oversees the award, explained this decision to ESPN FC:

"The philosophy is to launch one new face each year."

"This [possibility of same player winning twice] started with Messi in 2005 -- we couldn't just vote Messi each year, even if he was still young enough for the Golden Boy."

He added that Mbappe has had a great season and has reached a level that he deserves to be in the race for Ballon d'Or not the Golden Boy award.

"Now he's won the World Cup, starred for Paris Saint-Germain and is worthy of winning the Ballon d'Or, so there is no need for him to go back and win the Golden Boy again."

He did make it clear that there is no rule preventing Mbappe from winning it again.

"It's then up to the jury and there is no rule which says he can't [win again]."

It should be recalled here that because of this philosophy Messi and Rooney could also only claim this prize once.

What's next?

Kylian Mbappe will find out whether he wins the Ballon d'Or or not this year on December 3.

While, Roma's Kluivert, Ajax's De Ligt, Liverpool's Alexander-Arnold, AC Milan's Cutrone and Real Madrid's Vinicius Junior will find out who is crowned the best youngster in Europe on December 17.