Super Eagles star Ademola Lookman is the leading contender for the 2024 CAF Men’s Player of the Year AwardThe Atalanta star faces competition from four other contenders after CAF reduced the nominees list from 10A Guinean football expert has explained why Borussia Dortmund forward Serhou Guirassy should win the award
Ademola Lookman is the favourite nominee for the 2024 CAF Men’s Player of the Year, but a Guinean football expert has explained why the award should go to another nominee.
Lookman is up against four other contenders: Morocco and Paris Saint-Germain’s Achraf Hakimi, Guinea and Borussia Dortmund’s Serhou Guirassy, Ivory Coast and Brighton’s Simon Adingra and South Africa and Mamelodi Sundowns goalkeeper Ronwen Williams.
Serhou Guirassy in action for Guinea during the round of 16 match against Equatorial Guinea at AFCON 2023. Photo by Visionhaus.
Source: Getty Images
The Super Eagles star is seen as favourite after an impressive year for Atalanta, culminating in a historic UEFA Europa League win and AFCON 2023 final for Nigeria.
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Guinean expert names CAF POTY
Guinean football expert Oumar Dieng has backed his compatriot Guirassy to scoop the top prize and explained why he should be ahead of Nigerian star Lookman.
“The criteria are clear. Individual performances are weighed after the collective ones. If we consider the former, the Guinean is ahead of his rival, but looking at the latter, Lookman has the edge,” he told Ledjely.
“We hope that the juries will make the decision in our favour, which will bring pride to all Guineans since we have not won this award for a long time.
“Guirassy would then become the second Guinean after Cherif Souleymane in 1972 to win the African Ballon d’Or.”
As noted by Transfermarkt, Guirassy scored 30 goals last season compared to Lookman’s 17. The Bundesliga forward has 10 already this season, compared to the Serie A star’s nine.
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The tall forward’s goals helped VfB Stuttgart qualify for the UEFA Champions League this season, while Lookman broke Atalanta’s trophy drought.
CAF POTY controversies involving Nigerians
Henzodaily.ng analysed CAF POTY controversies involving Nigerians ahead of the award ceremony in two weeks, with Lookman widely regarded as the favourite to win.
Two Nigerian footballers in the past have entered the final days as favourites but failed to win. Chelsea legend John Obi Mikel was the most recent example in 2013.
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Source: Henzodaily.ng