TheCable

Victor Osimhen has been nominated for the 2023 Confederation of African Football (CAF) men’s player of the year award.

Osimhen is the only Nigerian who made the 30-player list announced on the CAF website on Wednesday.

The 24-year-old will battle Mohamed Salah of Egypt, Sadio Mane of Senegal and Algeria’s Riyad Mahrez for the most coveted individual prize for male footballers on the continent.

Other notable nominees include Vincent Aboubacar, Edouard Mendy, Achraf Hakimi, Thomas Partey and Mohammed Kudus.

Osimhen had a brilliant 2022/23 season where he led Napoli to the Serie A title last season — the club’s first in 33 years.

The Eagles striker scored 25 league goals to become the league’s highest goalscorer, setting the record as the first African footballer to achieve the feat.

He also led Nigeria to AFCON 2024 qualification, and he was the top goalscorer in the series with 10 goals.

On Monday, he was named the eighth best male footballer in the world at the Ballon d’Or ceremony. The Nigerian finished higher than any other Africans on the list.

Osimhen also became the first Nigerian to be named in the top ten of the Ballon d’Or.

Nigeria’s Gift Orban was nominated in the CAF men’s Young Player of the Year category.

The 21-year-old was in blistering form for KAA Gent in the Belgian Pro League last season. He scored 20 goals in all competitions for the club and earned himself a Super Eagles call-up.

However, Orban remains uncapped for the Eagles.

The 2023 CAF awards show will be held on December 11 in Marrakech, Morocco.

Player of the Year (Men)

• Ramy Bensebaini (Algeria and Borussia Dortmund)
• Riyad Mahrez (Algeria and Al Ahli)
• Edmond Tapsoba (Burkina Faso and Bayer Leverkusen)
• Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa (Cameroon and SSC Napoli)
• Vincent Aboubacar (Cameroon and Besiktas)
• Ibrahima Sangare (Cote d’Ivoire and Nottingham Forest)
• Seko Fofana (Cote d’Ivoire and Al Nassr)
• Chancel Mbemba (DR Congo and Olympique Marseille)
• Fiston Mayele (DR Congo and Pyramids)
• Mahmoud Abdel Moneim “Kahraba” (Egypt and Ahly)
• Mohamed Abdelmonem (Egypt and Al Ahly)
• Mohamed ElShenawy (Egypt and Al Ahly)
• Mohamed Salah (Egypt and Liverpool)
• Mohammed Kudus (Ghana and West Ham United)
• Thomas Partey (Ghana and Arsenal)
• Serhou Guirassy (Guinea and VfB Stuttgart)
• Yves Bissouma (Mali and Tottenham Hotspur)
• Achraf Hakimi (Morocco and Paris Saint-Germain)
• Azzedine Ounahi (Morocco and Olympique Marseille)
• Hakim Ziyech (Morocco and Galatasaray)
• Sofyan Amrabat (Morocco and Manchester United)
• Yahya Jabrane (Morocco and Wydad Athletic Club)
• Yassine Bounou (Morocco and Al Hilal)
• Youssef En-Nesyri (Morocco and Sevilla)
• Peter Shalulile (Namibia and Mamelodi Sundowns)
• Victor Osimhen (Nigeria and SSC Napoli)
• Sadio Mane (Senegal and Al Nassr)
• Pape Matar Sarr (Senegal and Tottenham Hotspur)
• Percy Tau (South Africa and Al Ahly)
• Mohamed Ali Ben Romdhane (Tunisia and Ferencvaros)

Young Player of the Year (Men)

• Dango Ouattara (Burkina Faso and Bournemouth)
• Souleymane Alio (Burkina Faso and New Stars)
• Ernest Nuamah (Ghana & Olympique Lyonnais)
• Abdessamad Ezzalzouli (Morocco and Betis)
• Bilal El Khannous (Morocco and Genk)
• Gift Orban (Nigeria and KAA Gent)
• Lamine Camara (Senegal and Generation Foot/Metz)
• Pape Amadou Diallo (Senegal and Generation Foot/Metz)
• Pape Demba Diop (Senegal and Zulte Waregem)
• Amara Diouf (Senegal and Generation Foot)