By Selcuk Bugra Gokalp
The 2024 CAF Men’s Player of the Year award ceremony will be held at 1800 GMT at Marrakech's Palais des Congres on Monday.
Brighton & Hove Albion's Ivorian winger Simon Adingra, Borussia Dortmund's Guinean striker Serhou Guirassy, Paris Saint-Germain's Moroccan full-back Aschraf Hakimi, Atalanta's Nigerian attacker Ademola Lookman and Mamelodi Sundowns' South African goalkeeper Ronwen Williams are the five nominated players for the prestigious award.
Lookman seems as the most promising candidate to bag the award as he made a memorable hat-trick for Italian Serie A side Atalanta in the last season's Europa League final, which clinched their maiden European trophy by defeating German champions Bayer Leverkusen 3-0.
Lookman also played for Nigeria in the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations final, which ended 2-1 in favor of Ivory Coast on February 11.
The winner of the last CAF Men’s Player of the Year award was Galatasaray's Nigerian striker Victor Osimhen, who was playing for Italian Serie A club Napoli at the time, while 2024 nominee Hakimi was the runner-up.
The 2024 CAF Men’s Player of the Year award is presented to the best African men's footballer each year and has been organized by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) since 1992.