Salah in line to win top African honour

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Bengaluru, January 2: Liverpool striker Mohamed Salah has emerged as the front-runner to win the African Footballer of the Year award, which will be announced on Thursday (January 4).

The Egyptian is one of the three candidates in the fray along with Gabon's Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who has been a revelation at Borussia Dortmund and fellow Liverpool player Sadio Mane of Senegal.

The 25-year-old has been in top form in the Premier League and has scored regularly for Liverpool after his record transfer for an African footballer in the close season. He also played an instrumental role in Egypt reaching the African Nations Cup final in Libreville in February, where they were edged 2-1 by Cameroon.

The only Egyptian to grab the African Footballer of the Year award was Mahmoud Al Khatib, who accomplished the feat in 1983 and Salah would be hoping to emulate him.

Just like Salah, Mane has also impressed for Liverpool and the duo's form were vital in Egypt qualifying for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia.

Mane is hoping to become only the second Senegalese to win the honour after El Hadji Diouf, who was African Footballer of the Year in 2001 and 2002.

Aubameyang, who was the African Footballer of the Year in 2015 and runner-up in the last poll to Riyad Mahrez, finished as top scorer in the Bundesliga last season, netting 31 goals, and continued his form in front of goal into the new campaign.

The winner will be announced at the annual Confederation of African Football awards being hosted in Accra, Ghana. The voting panel comprises national team coaches and captains from each African country plus a selected panel of journalists.