Mohamed Salah named 2017 African Player of the Year

Egypt winger Mohamed Salah has been named the African Player of the Year on Thursday, finishing ahead of Senegal winger and Liverpool teammate Sadio Mane and Gabon striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.

The 25-year-old is who currently Liverpool's top scorer in all competitions in the 2017/18 season to date had a year to remember for club and country in 2017, establishing himself as one of the most effective attackers in Serie A, as club side AS Roma finished second to Juventus in Italy, before moving to Premier League side Liverpool in the summer.

Salah also played a pivotal role as the Pharoahs of Egypt qualified for the 2018 World Cup for the first time since 1990, including a dramatic 95th-minute winner against Congo in their penultimate qualifying match.

Mohamed Salah is the African Player of the Year 2017 #aiteoCAFawards2017 pic.twitter.com/WswmPqcZBY

— CAF (@CAF_Online) January 4, 2018

Winning this award is a dream come true. I want delicate this award to the kids in Egypt and Africa. I want to tell them that never stop dreaming," Salah said after receiving the award.

Aubameyang, meanwhile, scored an incredible 31 goals in 32 appearances in all competitions last term, but only managed to get his hands on the DFB-Pokal with Borussia Dortmund.

The CAF Player of the Year award was initially pared down to a shortlist of 24. From there, Salah, Aubameyang and Mane were named the three finalists in December.

The winner of the award was selected by the current coaches and captain from every men’s national team in Africa.

The awards ceremony in Ghana's capital, Accra, proved a successful one for Egypt, after the Pharoahs was named the national team of the year, and Hector Cuper was named coach of the year.

The Awards winners in full:
Men's Player of the Year: Mohamed Salah (Egypt)
Women's Player of the Year Asisat Oshoala (Nigeria & Dalian Quanjian)
Youth Player of the Year Patson Daka(Zambia)
Coach of the Year Hector Cuper(Egypt)
Club of the Year: Wydad Casablanca (Morocco)
National Team of the Year: Egypt
Women's National Team of the Year: South Africa
Football Leader of the Year: Ahmed Yahya (Mauritania)
Legends Award: Ibrahim Sunday (Ghana)