Parallel to the announcement of the 23-man shortlist for the FIFA Ballon d'Or 2014, Italian sports newspaper Tuttosport has revealed the state of voting for the Golden Boy award.
The prize, awarded to the best young up-and-coming player in European football, is voted for in December by a selection of 30 sports writers from around Europe, representing 20 nations.
Football fans can have their own say in an online poll on Tuttosport.com which, albeit not decisive in terms of the final outcome, is indicative of who has caught fans' eyes in 2014.
Juventus' Paul Pogba took the award last year, but he cannot win it again since only players born after Jan. 1, 1994 can be considered.
Ajax forward Arkadiusz Milik is making the early running with more than half of the 80,000-plus votes cast, taking him a long way ahead of Liverpool's Raheem Sterling. Luka Zahovic of Maribor currently has just over 10 percent of the vote from the first 48 hours of the poll being open.
There are a total of 40 names on the shortlist and the 30 journalists who will determine the winner will be asked to write their favourite five in order of preference. The winner will be the one who picks up the most points from these shortlists.
Previous winners include Wayne Rooney, Lionel Messi, Mario Balotelli and Mario Gotze.
