The nominees for the BBC’s 2018 African Footballer of the year have been announced. Previous winners of the prestigious award include Ghana’s Micheal Essien, Algeria’s Riyad Mahrez, Nigeria’s Jay-jay Okocha, Ivory Coast’s Didier Drogba and Yaya Toure.
The shortlist was compiled by a panel of African football experts and includes:
- Sadio Mane (Senegal)
- Thomas Partey (Ghana)
- Kalidou Koulibaly (Senegal)
- Medhi Benatia (Morocco)
- Mohamed Salah (Egypt)
Liverpool’s Egyptian striker Mohamed Salah was last year’s winner after his impressive performances helped both club and country achieve great feat with Egypt qualifying for their first world cup finals since 1990.
The vote opened on Saturday 17 November and is set to close on Sunday 2 December with results due to be announced on December 14.