The Confederation of African Football (CAF) on Wednesday released the list of 30 finalists competing for the African Player of the year award.
The list includes Super Eagles winger Victor Moses and defender William Troost-Ekong alongside Senegal and Liverpool forward Sadio Mane, Gabon and Borussia Dortmund striker, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who won the award in 2015.
Algeria and Leicester City star Riyad Mahrez who won the award last year was not included in the list due to his lack of quality football.
According to CAF, the winner would be decided by votes from the Head Coaches/Technical Directors of the National Associations affiliated to CAF, members of the CAF Technical and Development Committee and a panel of Media Experts.
“The Awards Gala will be held on Thursday, 4 January 2018 in Accra, Ghana,” the statement concluded.
See the full list of nominees below:
Vincent Aboubakar (Cameroon & Porto)
Karim El Ahmadi (Morocco & Feyenoord)
Christian Atsu (Ghana & Newcastle)
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Gabon & Borussia Dortmund)
Eric Bailly (Cote d’Ivoire & Manchester United)
Cedric Bakambu (DR Congo & Villareal)
Keita Balde (Senegal & Monaco)
Christian Bassogog (Cameroon & Henan Jianye)
Yves Bissouma (Mali & Lille)
Khalid Boutaib (Morocco & Yeni Malatyaspor)
Yacine Brahimi (Algeria & Porto)
Essam El Hadary (Egypt & Al Taawoun)
Junior Kabananga (DR Congo & Astana)
Fackson Kapumbu (Zambia & Zesco)
Naby Keita (Guinea & RB Leipzig)
Ali Maaloul (Tunisia & Al Ahly)
Sadio Mane (Senegal & Liverpool)
Moussa Marega (Mali & Porto)
Victor Moses (Nigeria & Chelsea)
Youssef Msakni (Tunisia & Al Duhail)
Michael Olunga (Kenya & Girona)
Fabrice Ondoa (Cameroon & Sevilla)
Denis Onyango (Uganda & Mamelodi Sundowns)
Thomas Partey (Ghana & Atletico Madrid)
Mohamed Salah (Egypt & Liverpool)
Mbwana Samata (Tanzania & Genk)
Jean Michel Seri (Cote d’Ivoire & Nice)
Percy Tau (South Africa & Mamelodi Sundowns)
Bertrand Traore (Burkina Faso & Lyon)
William Troost-Ekong (Nigeria & Bursaspor)