Salah, Mane, Ighalo In Final 10 For African Player Of The Year [Full List]

Mohamed Salah is targeting a third consecutive African Player of the Year trophy after being named on the second shortlist of nominees for the 2019 award, which was reduced from 30 to 10 candidates on Wednesday.

Salah defended his crown last year after scoring 44 goals for Liverpool and Egypt in 2018 and finishing as the 2017-18 Premier League Golden Boot winner with 32 goals.

If the Egypt star wins the award again, he will be just the third player to have been named the continent’s Player of the Year a maximum of three times in his career, joining AC Milan icon George Weah and ex-Marseille star Abedi Pele. Only Yaya Toure and Samuel Eto’o have won it four times.

The 27-year-old faces competition for this year’s honour from Reds team-mate Sadio Mane. The Senegal international was joint top scorer in the Premier League last season with 22 goals alongside Salah.

Arsenal striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has also been named on the shortlist, having last won the award in 2015.

Salah, Mane and Aubameyang were the final three candidates for the award in the previous two seasons.

Manchester City and Algeria forward Riyad Mahrez, who won the award in 2016, is also included on the list announced by the Confederation of African Football (CAF).

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The list of Africa's elite now has 10 names 🌎🔝

Who'll be crowned African Player of the Year? 🏆 #CAFAwards2019 pic.twitter.com/qqrhq25vMN

— CAF (@CAF_Online) December 4, 2019

Aubameyang’s Arsenal colleague Nicolas Pepe of the Ivory Coast along with Leicester’s Nigerian midfielder Wilfred Ndidi andAston Villa midfielder Trezeguet and PSG’s Idrissa Gueye, have all failed to make the cut, however.

Other prominent Europe-based players nominated are Ajax duo Andre Onana and Hakim Ziyech, who helped guide the Dutch giants to a domestic double as well as the Champions League final last season.

Completing the 10-man list are Algeria’s Ismail Bennacer of AC Milan, Napoli centre-back Kalidou Kouilibaly, Shanghai Shenhua attacker Odion Ighalo and Youcef Belaili of Ahli Jeddah.

The shortlist will be narrowed down to three players later this year before the winner is announced at the ceremony in Egypt on January 7, 2020.