Manchester City winger, Riyad Mahrez has been nominated for the Confederation of African Football’s (CAF) Player of the Year award.
The Algerian had his best ever season for Manchester City in terms of goalscoring during the last campaign. Mahrez netted 24 times in 47 appearances for the Blues last season recording not only his best goalscoring season for the club, but also in his career.
Despite his incredible form for Pep Guardiola’s side, the winger did not have much impact on international duty for Algeria. He saw his side get eliminated from the African Cup of Nations following defeats to Equatorial Guinea and Ivory Coast in the group stage of the competition. The Desert Warriors also failed to qualify for the 2022 World Cup after they faced defeat against Cameroon.
However, Mahrez will face a lot of competition for the prestigious award from a handful of Premier league stars who also had outstanding performances last season. Sadio Mane, who just penned a deal with FC Bayern Munich recently, was also nominated for the award alongside former teammates Mohammed Salah and Naby Keita.
Mane saw his Senegalese team defeat Salah’s Pharoahs to win the finals and claim the African Cup of Nations trophy. Both players also ended the season as runners up for Liverpool in both the English Premier League and the UEFA Champions League.
Other Premier League players that feature in the initial top 30 list include Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Yves Bissouma, Chelsea’s Edouard Mendy, Arsenal’s Mohamed Elneny and Aston Villa’s Bertrand Traore.