Although the CAF African Player of the Year doesn’t garner attraction as its fellow continental awards – mainly UEFA’s Best Player prize – does, it’s a prize that deserves (more) recognition.
As a result, we have for you the 30-man shortlist for the aforementioned award, which sees many of Africa’s biggest names nominated – and one promising star surprisingly omitted.
Leading the pack of nominees is Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, last year’s winner and the BVB superstar striker. The 27-yer-old, highly sought after due to his pace and lethalness, tops the Bundesliga goalscoring chart with six goals in as many games.
The Gabonese ace will face a lot of competition, especially from the English Premier League, with the likes of Leicester’s Riyad Mahrez, West Ham’s Andrew Ayew, and rising Man City ace Kelechi Iheanacho also making the cut.
Mahrez would have been a clear winner for this award after his brilliant, Premier League-winning season in 2015/16 in which he was named PFA Player of the Year. However, his – and his team’s – abysmal start to the campaign may threaten his odds.
One Premier League ace that was surprisingly omitted was Arsenal starlet Alex Iwobi. The Nigerian youngster has enjoyed a well-profiled rise from the Gunners youth academy to the first-team, but finds no room for himself in the 30-man shortlist.
This is despite the fact that the 20-year-old’s tally of three assists is second best to only Kevin de Bruyne’s four. His lack of games could have proved the deciding factor, as he has managed only seven appearances for the Super Eagles.
Yaya Toure’s Man City exile saw him miss out as well, but compatriot Serge Aurier made the list. Check out the 30-man shortlist below.
- Riyad Mahrez (Algeria and Leicester)
- El Arabi Hillel Soudani (Algeria and Dinamo Zagreb)
- Islam Slimani (Algeria and Leicester)
- Samuel Eto’o (Cameroon and Antalyaspor)
- Benjamin Mounkandjo (Cameroon and Lorient)
- Serge Aurier (Ivory Coast and PSG)
- Eric Bailly (Ivory Coast and Man Uni)
- Gervinho (Ivory Coast and Hebei Fortune)
- Mohamed Salah (Egypt and Roma)
- Mohamed El Neny (Egypt and Arsenal)
- Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Gabon and Dortmund)
- Andre Ayew (Ghana and West Ham)
- Victor Wanyama (Kenya and Tottenham)
- William Jebor (Liberia and Wydad Athletic Club)
- Mehdi Benatia (Morocco and Juventus)
- Hakim Ziyech (Morocco and Ajax)
- John Mikel Obi (Nigeria and Chelsea)
- Kelechi Iheanacho (Nigeria and Man City)
- Ahmed Musa (Nigeria and Leicester)
- Cedric Bakambu (DR Congo and Villareal)
- Yannick Bolasie (DR Congo and Everton)
- Sadio Mane (Senegal and Liverpool)
- Kalidou Koulibaly (Senegal and Napoli)
- Keegan Dolly (South Africa and Mamelodi Sundowns)
- Itumeleng Khune (South Africa and Kaizer Chiefs)
- Mbwana Samatta (Tanzania and Genk)
- Aymen Abdennour Tunisia and Valencia)
- Wahbi Khazri (Tunisia and Sunderland)
- Dennis Onyango (Uganda and Mamelodi Sundowns)
- Khama Billiat (Zimbabwe and Mamelodi Sundowns)
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