The Confederation of African Football, CAF, has officially named the African stars who are in the running for the continent's biggest individual prize.
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The continent will find out who its new best player of the year will be on 11 December 2023, with the Moroccan city of Marrakesh is set to host the latest CAF Awards, and big African stars such as Victor Osimhen, Mohamed Salah and Yassine Bounou are all in contention to win the illustrious gong.
After being snubbed a nomination for last year's iteration, Osimhen will now be the heavy favourite to take the award back to Nigeria and become the first Super Eagle since Nwankwo Kanu in 1999 to win the prize.
The 24-year-old enjoyed a fantastic campaign with Napoli last season as he helped end the club's 33-year wait for a league title, with his 26 league goals also winning him top goalscoring honours in Italy as well as seeing him surpass George Weah as the most prolific African footballer in Serie A history. The Lagos native finished ninth in the 2023 Ballon d'Or voting, the highest-placed African player for the award, making him a clear favourite for the CAF Men's Player of the Year honour.
He will, however, face stiff competition from two-time award winner Salah, who has added to his Liverpool legacy this past season by continuing his prolific goalscoring form with the Reds. The Egypt international found the back of the net 30 times and also provided 16 assists in all competitions for the MErseysiders last season.
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Full list of nominees:
Ramy Bensebaini (Algeria Borussia Dortmund)
Riyad Mahrez (Algeria Al Ahli)
Edmond Tapsoba (Burkina Faso Bayer Leverkusen)
Frank Zambo Anguissa (Cameroon Napoli)
Vincent Aboubakar (Cameroon Besiktas)
Ibrahim Sangare (Ivory Coast Nottingham Forest)
Seko Fofana (Ivory Coast Al Nassr)
Chancel Mbemba (DR Congo Olympique Marseille)
Fiston Mayele (DR Congo Pyramids)
Mahmoud Abdel Moneim (Egypt Al Ahly)
Mohamed Abdelmonem (Egypt Al Ahly)
Mohamed El Shenawy (Egypt Al Ahly)
Mohamed Salah (Egypt Liverpool)
Mohammed Kudus (Ghana West Ham United)
Thomas Partey (Ghana Arsenal)
Serhou Guirassy (Guinea Stuttgart)
Yves Bissouma (Mali Tottenham Hotspur)
Achraf Hakimi (Morocco Paris Saint-Germain)
Azzedine Ounahi (Morocco Olympique Marseille)
Sofyan Amrabat (Morocco Manchester United)
Yahya Jabrane (Morocco Wydad Athletic Club)
Yassine Bounou (Morocco Al Hilal)
Youssef En-Nesyri (Morocco Sevilla)
Peter Shalulile (Namibia Mamelodi Sundowns)
Victor Osimhen (Nigeria Napoli)
Sadio Mane (Senegal Al Nassr)
Pape Matar Sarr (Senegal Tottenham Hotspur)
Percy Tau (South Africa Al Ahly)
Mohamed Ali Ben Romdhane (Tunisia Ferencvarosi)
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