Who could be the contenders for the 2019 CAF African Player of the Year?

Published on: 21 January 2019
Who could be the contenders for the 2019 CAF African Player of the Year?
Mohamed Salah

Mohamed Salah was crowned CAF African Player of the Year for a second successive season at the end of 2018, once again seeing off competition from teammate Sadio Mane and Arsenal's Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. 

 The order of the top three in fact was exactly the same as in 2017, with Mane finishing in second and Aubameyang third behind the Liverpool duo.

And few could dispute Salah receiving the honour again, after leading Egypt to their first World Cup since 1990, reaching the Champions League final with Liverpool in May and breaking the Premier League record for most goals in a season in his debut campaign for â€‹Liverpool.

But with the award now done and dusted, who might be the main contenders for the award at the end of 2019?

You’d have to imagine that the same three protagonists will be in the running again, but aside from Salah, Mane and Aubameyang, who else might be in the running?

Kalidou Koulibaly

The 27-year-old Napoli centre-back is currently the most coveted centre-back in world football, with potential suitors in Manchester United, Liverpool, Everton and Real Madrid all linked with the Senegalese star during the January transfer window.

Koulibaly has played in 18 of Napoli’s 19 Serie A games so far this season, only absent for the 3-2 win over Bologna – the only time this campaign that the Gli Azzurri have conceded more than one goal in the league at home.

Napoli currently sit second in Serie A behind runaway leaders Juventus and it’s unlikely that they can overhaul The Old Lady to lift the Scudetto (bookmakers have Juventus at as short a price as 1/16 with free bet no deposit sites to lift the title, with Napoli at as far as 12/1) but if Carlo Ancelotti’s men can finish second as well as having a good run in the Europa League, Koulibaly’s chances of individual silverware at the end of the year will dramatically increase.

If he gets a big money move elsewhere by the summer and performs well too, that might just boost his chances even further.

Thomas Partey

25-year-old Atletico Madrid midfielder Thomas Partey has been a revelation in La Liga over the past couple of years, and the Ghanaian international looks to just be hitting his stride.

He has made 16 appearances in La Liga so far this term, scoring twice and also notching two assists.

Having also covered at right back when called upon, the versatile Partey is not without his suitors across Europe’s biggest clubs either, but recently committed his future to Atletico after much speculation.

Riyad Mahrez

Manchester City’s Riyad Mahrez won the PFA Premier League Player of the Year award as a Leicester City player in 2016 after the culmination of the Foxes’ fairy-tale run to the title, but the 27-year-old Algerian has never featured amongst the top three at the CAF awards.

Maybe that could change this year however. Manchester City are involved in a titanic battle with Liverpool to win the Premier League crown and if they can overcome the Merseysiders with Mahrez being an influential figure, maybe that will shift the voting balance from Salah and Mane in the process.

Liverpool currently top the table and are betting favourites, but Manchester City possess the squad to win it down the stretch.

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