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It's been a year to remember for Gabriel Jesus .

The Manchester City striker has already scored 17 goals in 2017 as he continues to lead by example for club and country.

In fact the Blues forward has been in such good form that he has not lost a competitive match he has appeared in since October 2016.

And now the 20-year-olds meteoric rise in European football has been capped off with a runners-up place in the highly-coveted Golden Boy award.

The award is organised by Italian sports newspaper Tuttosport and recognises the best under-21 footballer playing in Europe.

A winner is chosen by a panel of 30 journalists from newspapers across continent.

The Brazilian striker faced tough competition with Paris Saint-Germain loanee Kylian Mbappé, United's Marcus Rashford and Barcelona's Ousmane Dembélé also among the frontrunners for the prize.

It was Mbappé who won the award after guiding Monaco to their first French league title in 17 years, with Jesus ultimately coming 4th in the vote.

That is still a huge accolade for Jesus, who was relatively unknown prior to his move from Palmeiras in January and hit the ground running with seven goals in his first 11 Premier League games.

A victory for Jesus would have seen him become only the second City player to win the award since its inauguration in 2003, after Mario Balotelli won the award in 2010.

Current Blues Sergio Aguero and Raheem Sterling have both previously won the award themselves too, although neither of them played for City at the time.

While another trophy would have been welcome in Jesus' trophy cabinet, City fans are pleased enough to see him scoring goals.