Osimhen makes final shortlist for 2023 CAF best player award

Victor Osimhen, Super Eagles striker, has been listed among the final ten nominees for the 2023 CAF men’s player of the year award.

CAF revealed the final shortlist for the categories of the men’s awards in a thread of posts on its X account on Friday.

Osimhen is the only Nigerian who made the final shortlist across all categories.

On November 1, CAF released a 30-player longlist for the most coveted individual prize on the continent.

In the latest announcement, the list was chiselled to ten players. Osimhen is set to compete with Mohamed Salah of Egypt, Sadio Mane of Senegal and Algeria’s Riyad Mahrez for the award.

Other notable nominees include Vincent Aboubacar, Frank Anguissa, Achraf Hakimi, Sofyan Amrabat, Youssef En-Nesyri and Yassine Bounou.

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 the AFCON 2024 qualification and was the top goalscorer in the series with ten goals.

Osimhen was named the eighth best male footballer in the world at the Ballon d’Or ceremony in October. He finished higher than any other Africans on the list. He also became the first Nigerian to be named in the top ten of the Ballon d’Or.

In the CAF men’s Young Player of the Year category, Nigeria’s Gift Orban did not make the final shortlist.

He was beaten to the list by Burkina Faso’s Dango Ouattara, the Moroccan duo of Abdessamad Ezzalzouli and Bilal El Khannous, and Senegal’s Lamine Camara and Amara Diouf.