Egypt and Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah has been voted the overall winner of this year’s BBC African Footballer of the Year Award, the first time he has been shortlisted.
The 25-year-old Liverpool star beat Gabon’s Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Guinean Naby Keita, Sadio Mané of Senegal and Nigeria’s Victor Moses.
Mohamed Salah said: “I am very happy to win this award. It’s always a special feeling when you win something. You feel like you did a great year, so I’m very happy. I would also like to win it next year!”
Salah, this season’s Premier League top scorer with 13 goals, has enjoyed a stellar year for both club and country. In early 2017 he was the central figure for Egypt as they finished runners-up at the Africa Cup of Nations. Later in the year, the pacey forward had a hand in all seven of the goals that took the Pharaohs to their first World Cup since 1990 – assisting two and scoring five, including the stoppage-time penalty against Congo that qualified them for Russia.
Salah now adds his name to a list of African legends, including Abedi Pele, George Weah, Jay-Jay Okocha and Didier Drogba, to have won the BBC African Footballer of the Year prize.