The Professional Footballers' Association Young Player of the Year is given to the player aged 23 or under who is adjudged to have been the best player of the season in English football. A shortlist of nominees is published in April and the winner of the award, along with the winners of the PFA's other annual awards, is announced at a gala event in London a few days later. Players consider the award to be highly prestigious, because the winner is chosen by fellow professionals. The first ever winner of this award was Kevin Beattie of Ipswich Town and the current holder of the award Gareth Bale, who is now one of Real Madrid's Galacticos. The fortunes of the winner of this award have been very mixed,, with top world talents such as David Beckham, Steven Gerrard and Cristiano Ronaldo winning the award. However, there are also cautionary tales of potential not being fully achieved due to injuries off the field problems, like Jermaine Jenas and Craig Bellamy. In this article we go through all of the candidates for this year's trophy and the chances they have of winning it.
10. Romelu Lukaku
Many Chelsea fans raised an eyebrow when it was announced that the big Belgian would be spending the season on loan at Everton. Seen by many as the heir to Didier Drogba, Romelu Lukaku has shown throughout the season that he has the raw ability to hurt the defence of many a team in the Premier League this season, notching an impressive nine goals in 21 games for Everton. Criticism that has come his way is that his match winning performances do not come regularly enough, and that his technique is somewhat lacking. However, Lukaku is still maturing as a footballer and will surely be a major part of Chelsea's team next season. Verdict Whilst Lukaku has produced match winning performances, his inconsistency mean that he will probably miss out on the award this season