Egypt and Liverpool winger Mohamed Salah is on the final shortlist for the 2017 African Player of the Year award, the Confederation of African Football (CAF) announced on Monday. The 25-year-old, Salah, who is the first Egyptian in EPL history to win the Player of the Month award, is close to securing the African Player of the Year title this season after his superb performance with the Egypt national team and English Premier League side Liverpool. The three players competing for the award are: Mohamed Salah (Egypt - Liverpool); Sadio Mane (Senegal - Liverpool); Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Gabon - Borussia Dortmund). Salah was instrumental in Egypt's successful campaign in the World Cup qualifiers, which saw the Pharaohs reach football's most prestigious competition for the first time since 1990. Last week he won the BBC African Footballer of the Year for 2017, beating his teammate Senegalese star Sadio Mane and Gabonese forward Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who plays for Borussia Dortmund. Salah, who joined Liverpool last summer from Serie A side Roma, has hit the headlines in England, scoring 20 goals in 25 appearances on all fronts with Liverpool so far. He's currently the Premier League's top scorer with a 14-goal tally. Ahly football icon and current chairman Mahmoud El-Khatib, winner of the 1983 African Player of the Year, is the only Egyptian player to win the award, although Egypt Won a record seven AFCON titles. The CAF 2017 African Player of the Year Awards Gala will be held in Accra on 4 January, 2018. (For more sports news and updates, follow Ahram Online Sports on Twitter at @AO_Sports and on Facebook at AhramOnlineSports.)
