Salah and Mane make five-man African Footballer of the Year shortlist

Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane have made the BBC’s five-man shortlist for the 2018 African Footballer of the year Award.

The two Liverpool forwards have been named alongside Juventus defender Medhi Benatia, Napoli defender Kalidou Koulibaly, and Atletico Madrid midfielder Thomas Partey.

The five-man shortlist is draw up by polling African journalists, before the winner is chosen by a vote open to the public.

You can now have your say on who has been the best African performer this calendar year by voting via the BBC website, with the vote closing December 2 before the final result is revealed live on BBC World News December 14.

Picture credit: Football 365

Salah is sure to be a huge favourite for the award, enjoying the most successful season of his career in his first year on Merseyside, during which time he picked up the award for 2017 African Footballer of the Year amongst a host of other awards.

Should he win it again this year, Salah will become only the fourth two-time winner of the award – alongside Yaya Toure (2013, 2015), Jay-Jay Okocha (2003, 2004), and Nwankwo Kanu (1997, 1999) – and only the second player to own the title in successive years.

Last season saw Senegal forward Mane bag 10 Champions League goals for the Reds, including one in the final of the competition and a hat-trick against Porto, and 10 Premier League goals. He also scored for his country in the World Cup in Russia, and has also scored seven goals in 14 appearances so far this campaign.

Salah again leads the scoring for Liverpool so far this season, with eight goals in 17 games.

Fellow competitor for the award Benatia won the league with Juventus last season, and scored the vital goal to earn Morocco qualification for the World Cup. Partey featured heavily as Atletico Madrid won the Europa League, and Koulibaly stood out as a rock for Napoli as they went close to silverware.

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Source: anfieldhq.com