Inter Milan’s Philippe Coutinho and Dynamo Kiev midfielder Dudu are in contention to win the European Golden Boy award.
The two young Brazilians are part of the 39-man shortlist, which aims to recognise the best talent in world football under the age of 21.
Journalists from Europe’s leading sport newspapers including Tuttosport, L’Equipe, Marca, Bild, De Telegraaf and The Times decide upon the winning candidate.
Philippe Coutinho, 20, has scored three times in 12 appearances for Inter this season, having revived his spell in Italy with a series of impressive performances whilst on-loan at Espanyol at the end of the 2011-12 season.
However, the Brazil international has recently suffered a small fracture in his tibia and will be out for three weeks.
Dudu, 20, has made six appearances for Dynamo this term, helping them to third in the Ukrainian Premier League.
Brazil forward Alexandre Pato won the European Golden Boy award in 2009, to join the likes of Lionel Messi, Wayne Rooney, Rafael van der Vaart, Mario Balotelli and Mario Gotze of Borussia Dortmund, who won it last year.
The complete list of nominees is:
David Alaba – Bayern Munich
Jano Ananidze – Spartak Moscow
Christian Atsu – FC Porto
Jean-Christophe Bahebeck – Troyes
Joel Campbell – Real Betis
Luc Castaignos – FC Twente
Thibaut Courtois – Atletico Madrid
Philippe Coutinho – Inter
Gerard Deulofeu – Barcelona
Julian Draxler – Schalke
Dudu – Dynamo Kiev
Stephan El Shaarawy – AC Milan
Christian Eriksen – Ajax
Mario Gotze – Borussia Dortmund
John Guidetti – Manchester City
Isco – Malaga
Jese – Real Madrid
Ola John – Benfica
Vaclav Kadlec – Sparta Prague
Koke – Atletico Madrid
Mateo Kovacic – Dinamo Zagreb
Milan Lalkovic – Vitoria Guimaraes
Erik Lamela – Roma
Jurgen Locadia – PSV Eindhoven
Samuele Longo – Espanyol
Lazar Markovic – Partizan Belgrade
Bruno Martins Indi – Feyenoord
Iker Muniain – Athletic Bilbao
Ahmed Musa – CSKA Moscow
Pedro Obiang – Sampdoria
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain – Arsenal
Magomed Ozdoev – Lokomotiv Moscow
Paul Pogba – Juventus
Mohamed Salah – Basel
Jonjo Shelvey – Liverpool
Raheem Sterling – Liverpool
Raphael Varane – Real Madrid
Marco Verratti – Paris Saint-Germain
Granit Xhaka – Borussia Monchengladbach
