After Liverpool F.C.’s forward Mohamed Salah won the BBC African Footballer of the Year Award 2017 on Monday, many football experts expect the Egyptian “pharaoh” will win the Confederation of African Football (CAF) African Player of the Year award, as was the case with other legendary footballers from the continent.
Leicester forward Riyad Mahrez was the last African player to win both honours in the same year after his brilliant performance with the Algerian national team and in the Premier League.
Mahrez was not the first player to win both trophies together; Yaya Toure did so in 2013, as did Drogba in 2009, and Haj Diouf in 2002.
The 11-man shortlist for the CAF African Player of the Year award has been revealed last month, It includes Bertrand Traore (Burkina Faso – Olympique Lyon), Denis Onyango (Uganda – Mamelodi Sundowns), Karim El Ahmadi (Morocco – Feyenoord), Keita Balde (Senegal – Monaco), Mohamed Salah (Egypt – Liverpool), Naby Keita (Guinea – RB Leipzig), Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Gabon – B. Dortmund), Sadio Mane (Senegal – Liverpool), Victor Moses (Nigeria – Chelsea), Vincent Aboubakar (Cameroon – Porto), and Yacine Brahimi (Algeria – Porto).
