Super Eagles of Nigeria and Napoli striker Victor Osimhen has won the CAF 2023 Men’s Player of the Year award. The pacy striker saw off stiff competition from Egypt’s Mohamed Salah and Morocco’s Achraf Hakimi.
Osimhen was in fine form in the 2022–2023 season, as his 25 league goals helped Italian football royalty Napoli to their first Seria A title in 33 years. He also pipped Lautaro Martinez of Inter Milan and AC Milan’s Rafael Leao to scoop the Best Striker in Serie A gong.
Osimhen scored five times for Napoli as they reached the quarterfinal stages of the UEFA Champions League. He was instrumental in the Super Eagles sealing a ticket for the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) with 10 goals to finish as the top scorer of the qualifiers.
His league goals helped him become the first African to top the Serie A scorers’ chart and break George Weah’s record for the most goals scored by an African in the Italian league.
Victor Osimhen became the first Super Eagles player to win the award since Kanu Nwankwo won it in 1999. Ranked as the 8th best male player at the 2023 Ballon d’Or, Victor Osimhen was also the first Nigerian to be nominated in the male category of the prestigious award in 24 years.
Kanu Nwankwo was the last Super Eagle to earn a nomination. With his 8th-place finish, the goal-scoring machine set the record as the highest-ranked Nigerian player at the Ballon d’Or and also the highest-ranked African player at the year’s edition.
