Raheem Sterling one of five English stars nominated for European Golden Boy award

The 40-man shortlist for European Golden Boy award has been announced

Raheem Sterling is one of five English players who have been nominated

Luke Shaw, John Stones, Eric Dier and Calum Chambers also on the list

Players under age of 21 playing in Europe's top leagues can win award

Wayne Rooney only previous English winner of the award in 2004

Published: 20:37 EDT, 30 October 2014 | Updated: 05:45 EDT, 31 October 2014

Raheem Sterling leads the five-strong English contingent who are in contention for the 2014 European Golden Boy award for the best youngster on the continent.

Manchester United's Luke Shaw, Everton's John Stones, Tottenham Hotspur's Eric Dier and Arsenal's Calum Chambers also join Liverpool's Sterling on the 40-man shortlist.

In all, there are 10 Premier League-based players, with Chelsea's Kurt Zouma, United's Adnan Januzaj, Spurs' Nabil Bentaleb and Liverpool's Lazar Markovic and Divock Origi having also been nominated.

Raheem Sterling is one of five English players nominated for the 2014 European Golden Boy award

Tottenham's Eric Dier and Everton's John Stones (right) also make the 40-strong shortlist for the award

Arsenal's Calum Chambers and Manchester United's Luke Shaw (right) also make the 40-strong shortlist

Wayne Rooney, pictured here during his Everton days, is the only previous English winner of the award in 2004

PREVIOUS GOLDEN BOY WINNERS

2003 - Rafael van der Vaart (Holland; Ajax)

2004 - Wayne Rooney (England; Everton)

2005 - Lionel Messi (Argentina; Barcelona)

2006 - Cesc Fabregas (Spain; Arsenal)

2007 - Sergio Aguero (Argentina; Atletico Madrid)

2008 - Anderson (Brazil; Manchester United)

2009 - Alexandre Pato (Brazil; AC Milan)

2010 - Mario Balotelli (Italy; Manchester City)

2011 - Mario Gotze (Germany; Borussia Dortmund)

2012 - Isco (Spain; Malaga)

2013 - Paul Pogba (France; Juventus)

La Liga has five nominees, including former Everton loanee Gerard Deulofeu, as does Serie A, with the Bundesliga having six, Ligue 1 four and Eredivisie three. There are also seven players from other European nations.

All nominees for the Golden Boy award must be under the age of 21 and play in one of the big European leagues. The winner will be announced in December.

There have been 11 previous winners of the award since its inception in 2003 - when Italian newspaper Tuttosport originally created the prize and determined Dutchman Rafael van der Vaart to be Europe's next best thing.

Paul Pogba was voted last year's Golden Boy by journalists in Europe and Wayne Rooney is the only previous English winner (2004).

In order to determine the eventual winner, each of the 30 publications with a vote nominates five players from the shortlist and 10 points are awarded to their first choice, seven for their second, five for their third, three for their fourth and one for their fifth.

SHORTLIST OF 40 FOR THE 2014 EUROPEAN GOLDEN BOY AWARD

Premier League (10 players): Kurt Zouma (Chelsea), Calum Chambers (Arsenal), Adnan Januzaj, Luke Shaw (Manchester United), John Stones (Everton), Raheem Sterling, Lazar Markovic, Divock Origi (Liverpool), Nabil Bentaleb, Eric Dier (Tottenham Hotspur).

La Liga (five players): Saúl Ñíguez (Atlético Madrid), Gerard Deulofeu (Sevilla), Aymeric Laporte (Athletic Bilbao), Sandro Ramirez, Munir El Haddai (Barcelona).

Serie A (five players): Domenico Berardi (Sassuolo), Mateo Kovacic (Inter), Bernardeschi Franco (Fiorentina), Kingsley Coman (Juventus), Keita Baldé Diao (Lazio).

Bundesliga (six players): Hakan Calhanoglu (Bayer Leverkusen), Matthias Ginter (Borussia Dortmund), Julian Green (Hamburg), Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, Gianluca Gaudino (Bayern Munich), Maximilian Meyer (Schalke).

Ligue 1 (four players): Marquinhos, Adrien Rabiot (Paris Saint-Germain), Benjamin Mendy (Marseille), Lucas Ocampos (Monaco).

Eredivisie (three players): Tonny Vilhena (Feyenoord), Jetro Willems (PSV), Arkadiusz Milik (Ajax).

Other nominees (seven players): Oliver Torres (Porto), Bruma (Galatasaray), Gonzalez (Basel), Nikola Ninkovic (Partizan Belgrade), Luka Zahovic (Maribor), Dennis Praet, Alexander Mitrovic (Anderlecht).