Breaking: 10-man shortlist for African Player of the Year announced

A shortlist of 10 players nominated for the African Footballer of the Year has been officially announced by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) on Wednesday. After an initial list of 30 nominees was announced on November 24th, the CAF has now narrowed the list down to the final 10.

Liverpool's explosive wing pair Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane have both made it to the final shortlist after their Champions League heroics. Salah and Mane had to share the Premier League Golden boot with Arsenal and Gabon's Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who also makes the cut for the final 10. The Egyptian, who is the reigning African Player of the Year has already won the award on two occasions and is one of the favourites to win the award for a third consecutive time.

After a relatively quiet season with Manchester City, Riyad Mahrez spearheaded Algeria to the African Cup of Nations in majestic fashion, leading to a 10th placed finish in the Ballon d'Or rankings and a nomination for the African Player of the Year. Two of his Algerian teammates Ismail Bennacer and Youcef Belaili have made the list along with the former Leicester City man.

Napoli's defensive rock Kalidou Koulibaly, Ajax pair Andre Onana and Hakim Ziyech, and former Watford forward Odion Ighalo complete the top 10 list.

The winner will be crowned on Tuesday, 7 January 2020, at Citadel Azure, Hurghada, Egypt.

The 🔟 nominees for the African Player of the Year award 🌟Andre Onana 🇨🇲Hakim Ziyech 🇲🇦Ismail Bennacer 🇩🇿Kalidou Koulibaly 🇸🇳Mohamed Salah 🇪🇬Odion Ighalo 🇳🇬Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang 🇬🇦Riyad Mahrez 🇩🇿Sadio Mane 🇸🇳Youcef Belaili 🇩🇿Who should win it? 🤔#CAFAwards2019

— Goal (@goal) December 4, 2019