Black Stars midfielder Thomas Teye Partey is the only Ghanaian player nominated for the 2018 African Footballer of the Year Award.
The Atletico Madrid player was named among 34 African players for the award scheduled to be held in Dakar, Senegal on Tuesday, January 8, 2019.
Partey’s success in the year under review saw him win the UEFA Europa League at club level while he has played in all the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers for the Stars.
He was recently shortlisted for the BBC African Player of the Year.
But he is set to come up against tough competition from the others including reigning Player of the Year Mohamed Salah of Egypt.
Salah’s club mates Sadio Mane of Senegal and Naby Keita of Guinea have also been nominated.
But the list will be whittled down to five before being shortlisted to three for the awards gala.
The gala will see other awards such as Youth Player of the Year, Women’s Player of the Year, Men’s Coach of the Year and national teams of the year being given.
Find the 34 nominees below:
- Abdelmoumene Djabou (Algeria & ES Setif)
- Ahmed Gomaa (Egypt & El Masry)
- Ahmed Musa (Nigeria & Al-Nassr )
- Alex Iwobi (Nigeria & Arsenal)
- Andre Onana (Cameroon & Ajax)
- Anis Badri (Tunisia & Esperance)
- Ayoub El Kaabi (Morocco & Hebei China Fortune)
- Ben Malango (DR Congo & TP Mazembe)
- Denis Onyango (Uganda & Mamelodi Sundowns)
- Fanev Andriatsima (Madagascar & Clermont Foot)
- Franck Kom (Cameroon & Esperance)
- Jacinto Muondo Dala ‘Gelson’ (Angola & Primeiro de Agosto)
- Hakim Ziyech (Morocco & Ajax)
- Idrissa Gueye (Senegal & Everton)
- Ismail Haddad (Morocco & Wydad Athletic Club)
- Jean-Marc Makusu Mundele (DR Congo & AS Vita)
- Kalidou Koulibaly (Senegal & Napoli)
- Mahmoud Benhalib (Morocco & Raja Club Athletic)
- Mehdi Benatia (Morocco & Juventus)
- Mohamed Salah (Egypt & Liverpool)
- Moussa Marega (Mali & Porto)
- Naby Keita (Guinea & Liverpool)
- Odion Ighalo (Nigeria & Changchun Yatai, Nigeria)
- Percy Tau (South Africa & Union Saint-Gilloise)
- Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Gabon & Arsenal)
- Riyad Mahrez (Algeria & Manchester City)
- Sadio Mane (Senegal & Liverpool)
- Taha Khenissi (Tunisia & Esperance)
- Thomas Partey (Ghana & Atletico Madrid)
- Wahbi Khazri (Tunisia & Saint-Étienne)
- Walid Soliman (Egypt & Ahly)
- Wilfried Zaha (Cote d’Ivoire & Crystal Palace)
- Yacine Brahimi (Algeria & Porto)
- Youcef Belaili (Algeria & Esperance)
By Emmanuel Kwame Amoh|3news.com|Ghana