CAF Men's Player of the Year Award Comes Down to the Final Three: Salah, Osimhen, and Hakimi

• CAF have trimmed their 10-man shortlist down to three outstanding contenders
• The Egyptian King, a Moroccan Prince, and a Nigerian hitman are in the running
• The prestigious CAF Awards will be held in Marrakech on Monday, December 11

CAF have put forward their final three in the Player of the Year category.

The continental body cut seven names from their shortlist, adding some spice before Monday night's glamourous awards ceremony.

Among those to miss out are Al-Nassr's Sadio Mane, Manchester United's Sofyan Amrabat, and Sevilla's Yousef En Nesyri.

The debate will now rage to decide who between Mohamed Salah, Victor Osimhen, and Achraf Hakimi deserves the prestigious honour.

Osimhen is the favourite of many to walk away with the honour. His exploits with Serie A winners, Napoli have made him one of the most valuable strikers in Europe.

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Paris Saint-Germain's Hakimi has had an outstanding time in Ligue 1 as well as with the Moroccan national team, with TransferMarkt noting his three goals in 12 league appearances so far this season.

Salah has won the award twice and has been the runner-up in the past two years.

His former Liverpool teammate and reigning CAF Player of the Year, Mane will be disappointed not to have made the top three, as this would have been the sixth time in succession he would have done so.

Should Osimhen win, Nigeria will go tie with Ghana and Ivory Coast for the number of wins, but still five behind record holders, Cameroon.

The last Nigerian to win the award was Nwankwo Kanu in 1999.

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Shortlist for CAF Player of the Year

Sports Brief recently reported on the announcement of the shortlist for CAF Player of the Year.

There are five more categories to choose from as well as Player of the Year and Coach of the Year.

The CAF Technical Committee, the media, and national coaches and captains all cast their votes.