Barcelona midfielder Pedri has a chance of defending his Golden Boy honour after being shortlisted for the 2022 edition.

The 19-year-old, who also won France Football's Kopa Trophy last year, joined the Catalan side in 2019 and went on to become one of their key players.

However, the Spain international could face a tough task to retain the honour, which is run by Italian sports newspaper Tuttosport for Europe-based players aged 20 years or younger, as he was plagued by hamstring injuries last season and limited to just 22 club appearances.

Real Madrid midfielder Eduardo Camavinga, who won the Spanish league title and UEFA Champions League last season, and Borussia Dortmund's rising star Jude Bellingham are among the frontrunners for the award.

⭐ Pedri
⭐ Ansu
⭐ Gavi
⭐ Balde
⭐ Nico

Barça are well represented in the list of finalists for the Golden Boy 2022 award ?https://t.co/CV6CPBNiJd
— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) September 16, 2022

Joining Pedri on the 40-man shortlist from Camp Nou are Alejandro Martinez Balde, Ansu Fati, Gavi and Nico Gonzalez, who is currently on loan at Valencia, making Barcelona the team with the most nominees.

Dortmund and Bayern are the next best performing clubs with three nominees each.

Meanwhile, the Premier League is represented by Liverpool's Harvey Elliott and Fabio Carvalho, Manchester United winger Anthony Elanga and Arsenal winger Marquinhos.

No player ever won the award twice since its inception in 2003, which saw Rafael van der Vaart being named the inaugural winner that year.

Past winners included Wayne Rooney (2004), Lionel Messi (2005), Paul Pogba (2013), Kylian Mbappe (2017) and Erling Haaland (2020).

2022 Golden Boy nominees in full:
Brian Brobbey (Ajax)
Sebastiano Esposito (Anderlecht)
Marquinhos (Arsenal)
Rasmus Hojlund (Atalanta)
Giorgio Scalvini (Atalanta)
Alejandro Martinez Balde (Barcelona)
Ansu Fati (Barcelona)
Gavi (Barcelona)
Pedri (Barcelona)
Piero Hincapie (Bayer Leverkusen)
Ryan Gravenberch (Bayern Munich)
Mathys Tel (Bayern Munich)
Jamal Muisala (Bayern Munich)
Henrique Araujo (Benfica)
Karim Adeyemi (Borussia Dortmund)
Jude Bellingham (Borussia Dortmund)
Gio Reyna (Borussia Dortmund)
Martin Baturina (Dinamo Zagreb)
Ansgar Knauff (Eintracht Frankfurt)
Kiliann Eric Sildillia (Freiburg)
Jan Thielmann (Koln)
Fabio Miretti (Juventus)
Degnand Gnonto (Leeds United)
Harvey Elliott (Liverpool)
Fabio Carvalho (Liverpool)
Castello Lukeba (Lyon)
Anthony Elanga (Manchester United)
Nuno Mendes (PSG)
Xavier Simons (PSV)
Josko Gvardiol (RB Leipzig)
Benjamin Sesko (RB Salzburg)
Luka Sucic (RB Salzburg)
Eduardo Camavinga (Real Madrid)
Nicola Zalewski (Roma)
Destiny Udogie (Udinese)
Yunus Musah (Valencia)
Nico Gonzalez (Valencia, on loan from Barcelona)
Matteo Cancellieri (Verona)
Yeremi Pino (Villarreal)
Fabio Silva (Wolverhampton Wanderers, on loan from Anderlecht)