Following the shortlisted nominees for the men’s player of the Year award released by the Confederation of African Football (CAF), it is saddening to note that solely Nantes and Nigerian forward Moses Simon appeared to have cut a shot at the most prestigious honor in the continent.

The 30-man list released by CAF has the most outstanding players across the continent in 2021 with various degrees of achievements and accolades in their respective clubs and country. Senegal has the highest nominations with five players on the brink of winning the award while Egypt and Morocco have four players each. Burkina Faso, Mali, and Cameroon brace the occasion with three nominations and Ivory Coast ran the campaign with two stars. Only Tunisia, Nigeria, Comoros, Algeria, Gambia, and Guinea made one head go each.

While many football enthusiasts might have reservations about the list, it is however glaring that the battle is between Mohamed Salah (Egypt and Liverpool) and Sadio Mane (Senegal and Liverpool/Bayern Munich) because both players had the best season.

Recall that the CAF men’s player of the year award came into the spotlight in 1992 after the constituted football governing body in the Continent saw the need to honor African players in different categories and it has since replaced the African Footballer of the Year Golden Ball award given by France Football magazine meanwhile Abedi Pele Ayew of Ghana won the first edition that year.

Twenty Eight awardees have been registered since inception with Samuel Eto'o and Yaya Toure winning it on four different occasions each. However, Rashidi Yekini was the first Nigerian player to have won it in 1993 and he pass the mantle to Emmanuel Amunike who clinched it in 1994.

Only Kanu Nwankwo has won the award twice, first in 1996 and his last in 1999 since then no Nigerian player has had a taste of the prize. Nonetheless, Victor Ikpeba also earned it in 1997.

Below is the list of the winners


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