Super Eagles forward, Victor Osimhen believes he can win the 2023 African Player of the Year which is scheduled to hold on December 11, 2023 in Rabat, Morocco.
Nwankwo Kanu was the last Nigerian to win the prestigious award in 1999, edging out Ghana’s Samuel Kuffour and Ibrahima Bakayoko of Cote d’Ivoire to emerge as winner.
The Confederation of African Football had initially listed 30 players for this year’s men’s award before trimming it down to four players with Victor Osimhen (Napoli and Nigeria) in contention with Mohamed Salah (Liverpool and Egypt), Riyad Mahrez (Manchester City and Algeria) and Yaccine Bosounu (Sevilla and Morroco).
Sadio Mane of Senegal is the current CAF Men’s Player of the Year after winning the award in the last edition.
Osimhen scored 31 goals in 39 appearances for Napoli last season, which helped them win the Scudetto after a 33-year wait.
The 24-year-old also became the first African player in the 125-year history of the Italian Serie A to clinch the Serie A Golden Boot.
“It [would] mean a lot, a whole lot to me,” the 2023 Ballon d’Or nominee said.
“I remember in 2015, when I won the (CAF) Youth Player of the Year (award), you know, I saw the winner (Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang) walk up to the podium to receive it (the CAF POTY award).
“Since then, for me, it became a dream to try to be there and win something as prestigious as that.
“I think now I have a huge opportunity to actualise this dream. I’m really looking forward to it, and hopefully, it comes home.”
A voting process made up of a panel of CAF Technical Committee, media professionals, Head Coaches and Captains of Member Associations, as well as clubs participating in the group stage of the Interclub competitions, will determine the winners in each award category.
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