Aubameyang, Salah and Mane Make 2017 African Player of the Year top 3

Aubameyang, Salah and Mane Make 2017 African Player of the Year top 3

Victor Moses drops out as the Confederations of African Football, CAF, reveals the final three players that will be in contention to win the 2017 African Player of the Year award.

Reigning BBC African Footballer of the Year, Mo Salah will be looking to make it a double of awards after he was shortlisted alongside Liverpool teammate, Saido Mane, and Borussia Dortmund’s Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.

Hopes of a first Nigerian winner since Kanu Nwankwo in 1999 were dashed after Caf slashed the 11 nominees to three with Chelsea’s Moses missing out.

Salah comes in as odds-on favourite to be crowned king of the continent after a stellar year for club and country.

The 25-year-old has lit up the Premier League since his African record £39m switch from Roma in the summer, in addition to almost singlehandedly qualifying Egypt for the 2018 World Cup, their first in 28 years.

He will be looking to dethrone Liecester City and Algeria star, Riyad Mahrez, who won the award in 2016 after his magnificent displays.

Mane was also instrumental in qualifying Senegal for the Mundial in Russia, while he also enjoyed a stellar campaign with Liverpool last season where he made the PFA Team of the Year.

Winner of the award in 2015, Aubameyang finished last season as top scorer in the Bundesliga and has also been among the top goal scorers this term even as Dortmund struggle for form.

Meanwhile, Nigeria’s Asisat Oshoala made the top three in the women category where she’s joined by Cameroon’s Gabrielle Onguene and Chrestina Kgatlana of South Africa.

The winners will be announced during the Aiteo CAF 2017 Awards gala, on 4 January in Accra, Ghana after a collation of votes from Head Coaches or Technical Directors of the National Associations and ten members from the Independent Media and TV Consultants group.

Other Award Shortlists

Top 3 finalists for Coach of the Year Award: Gernot Rohr, Hector Cuper, L’hussein Amoutta.

Top 3 finalists for National Team of the Year award: Cameroon, Egypt and Nigeria.

Top 3 finalists for Women’s National Team of the Year Award: Ghana U20, Nigeria U20, South Africa (Banyana).

Top 3 finalists for Youth Player of the Year Award: Krepin Diatta (Senegal), Patson Daka (Zambia) and Salam Gidodu (Mali).