Salah and Hakimi as favorites
©IMAGO
BVB striker Serhou Guirassy has once again made it onto the shortlist for Africa’s Footballer of the Year. Ten players around Achraf Hakimi from Paris Saint-Germain and Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah can have hopes of winning the prestigious trophy from the continental association CAF. Who will follow in Atalanta’s Ademola Lookman’s footsteps will be decided in December.
Lookman won the 2024 trophy ahead of Hakimi and Salah after winning the Europa League with Atalanta Bergamo and being the match winner in the final. Salah, who contributed 47 goals in 38 games to Liverpool FC’s championship title, and Hakimi, who won the treble with PSG, are also among the favorites this year. In addition to Guirassy, Frank Anguissa from Italian champions SSC Napoli and Victor Osimhen from Turkish champion Galatasaray also have good chances.
In his first season for BVB, Guirassy scored 38 goals in 50 games across all competitions and also contributed eight assists. He particularly showed his class in the Champions League, where he was the most accurate professional along with Barcelona’s Raphinha with 13 goals. But the 29-year-old didn’t win a title. He was successful six times in four appearances for Guinea, but failed to qualify for the 2026 World Cup.
After Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang in 2015 (BVB) and Sadio Mané in 2022 (Bayern), if successful, Guirassy would be the third Bundesliga professional to win the trophy. Also available are Fiston Mayele (Pyramids FC), Denis Bouanga (Los Angeles FC), Oussama Lamlioui (Renaissance de Berkane), Iliman Ndiaye (Everton) and Pape Matar Sarr (Tottenham). Record holders are Samuel Eto’o and Yaya Touré with four awards each.