Twitter reacts as Kylian Mbappe is snubbed from Golden Boy top five nominees

World Cup winner and Paris Saint-Germain star Kylian Mbappe has been surprisingly snubbed from the top five nominee-list for the Golden Boy award.

The Golden Boy award was founded by Italian newspaper Tuttosport recognising a player under the age of 21 for his talents in the game. The player must, however, play in one of Europe's top tier leagues.

The first edition of the prize was awarded in 2003 to former Tottenham and Real Madrid midfielder Rafael Van Der Vaart.

Barcelona legend Lionel Messi and former Manchester United ace Wayne Rooney are also among the players to have taken home the award.

A 19-year-old Mbappe was presented with the award last year for being the standout under-21 player. Since then, the Frenchman has risen through the ranks with Paris Saint-Germain and his national side.

The PSG star won the treble with the French giants and played a pivotal role in the World Cup winning squad this summer.

It was no wonder that he was included in the Golden Boy's initial forty-man list of nominees in a chance to retain the award.

However, in a surprising turn of events, the top five nominees for the award have been announced to be Trent Alexander-Arnold (England and Liverpool), Vinicius Junior (Brazil and Real Madrid), Patrick Cutrone (Italy and AC Milan), Justin Kluivert (the Netherlands and AS Roma) and Matthijs de Ligt (the Netherlands and AFC Ajax).

Together with the likes of Phil Foden and Tom Davies, Mbappe had been snubbed, leaving some fans in bewilderment.

Since the announcement of the top five, social media has exploded with reaction to the Paris Saint-Germain star's snub:

While Mbappe has been confirmed to be injured over the international break, Paris Saint-Germain is set to face Toulouse in a Ligue 1 game on Saturday.