Gianluigi Donnarumma remains AC Milan's undisputed No.1 but can the goalkeeping prodigy hold onto his NxGn title?
Last March, the Italy international finished top of Goal's 50-strong list (pictured above with his award) of the most exciting young players born on or after January 1, 1998, beating off stiff competition from Kylian Mbappe and Christian Pulisic for the prestigious prize.
The cut-off date has obviously moved forward 12 months for this year's edition, thus ruling both Mbappe and Pulisic out of the running. However, Donnarumma, who only turned 19 on February 25, is still eligible, giving him an excellent chance of retaining his crown.
However, fans of Justin Kluivert will have plenty to say about that, with the exciting winger presently doing an excellent job of following in his father Patrick's footsteps by establishing himself as a budding superstar at Ajax.
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Kluivert's club-mate Matthijs De Ligt is also in contention after a year in which he has become one of the most talked-about young defenders in world football.
Of course, there are few better judges of talent than Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola and he has spent plenty of time of late lavishing praise upon two of his most talented protégés, Phil Foden and Brahim Diaz, while Ryan Sessegnon is currently attracting the attention of all of the Premier League's top clubs with his scintillating showings in the Championship for Fulham.
In Italy, Juventus ace Moise Kean is continuing his rapid development into a top striker at Verona this season, while Pietro Pellegri earned himself a €25 million January transfer to Monaco on the back of his exploits at Genoa.
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Then again, what about Vinicius Junior? Brazil's latest striking sensation became the most expensive 16-year-old in history when Real Madrid agreed to pay Flamengo €45m for his services and his fine form since being loaned back to the Serie A side suggests that could be money well spent by the reigning world champions.
So, who will win this year's NxGn? We've asked experts from across Goal's 37 editions to rate football's most exciting teenagers in terms of first-team experience, potential and overall ability.
The final tallies are now being calculated and the final list, along with the victor, will be revealed on Wednesday at 1300CET.
The 2018 NxGn is just hours away! Don't miss it!