The final shortlist for the 2023 CAF African Men’s Player of the Year Award includes Super Eagles and Napoli forward Victor Osimhen.
The Confederation of African Football announced the names of the three final nominees for the prestigious awards in various categories on its official X handle on Thursday.
Osimhen will compete against Egypt’s Mohamed Salah of Liverpool and Morocco’s Achraf Hakimi, a defender for Paris Saint-Germain.
With Napoli winning their first league title in thirty-three years and scoring a league-high 26 goals in 32 Serie A games and 31 goals overall last season, the 24-year-old has been in excellent form for the club over the last twelve months.
The Nigerian was named the Italian Footballers’ Association Player of the Year, Paolo Rossi Award winner, and Serie A Best Striker for his outstanding performance in Italy.
In addition, he is a candidate for the Globe Soccer Award and received a nomination for the Ballon d’Or.
Osimhen led the national team in scoring during the qualification series with ten goals, and he assisted Nigeria in earning a spot in the 2024 Africa Cup of Nations in Ivory Coast.
Regarding the other nominations, Hakimi won the Ligue 1 championship with PSG and assisted Morocco in becoming the first-ever African team to advance to the FIFA World Cup semifinals.
Overall, though, it wasn’t the best time for Salah because neither his Premier League team nor Egypt could claim any hardware. Nevertheless, the 31-year-old had a fantastic season on a personal level, finishing the previous campaign with 16 goals for the Reds and assisting the Pharaohs in securing their spot at the AFCON the following year.
Surprisingly missing from the list are Sadio Mane, the winner from the previous year, Yassine Bounou, and Youssef En-Nesyri of Morocco, who were all unable to make it to the final shortlist.
After Nwankwo Kanu won the coveted title in 1999, Osimhen aims to become the first player from Nigeria to be named African Men’s Player of the Year in 24 years.
The only other Nigerians who have previously been ranked as the top players on the continent are Victor Ikpeba, Emmanuel Amuneke, and Rashidi Yekini.
But Kanu is still the only recipient of the honour, with two wins (1996 and 1999).
Goalkeeper Chiamaka Nnadozie was withdrawn from the competition for Player of the Year in the women’s division, leaving Barcelona Femeni Asisat Oshoala to compete against Thembi Kgatlana of South Africa and Barbra Banda of Zambia.
