Liverpool star and Xabi Alonso favourite omitted from Africa Player of the Year award in shock reveal

Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah has found himself omitted from big awards in recent years - and this years Africa Player of the Year award is no different.

Having missed out on the Ballon d’Or shortlist for this year’s award - set to be crowned within the next week - he also wasn’t in the 2023/24 Premier League Team of the Year and now he has missed out on an award which he hasn’t won since 2018.

African Football has always had iconic players over the years and Liverpool were lucky enough to have two of the best from this generation in their starting line-up for years with Salah and Sadio Mane. As mentioned, Salah last won the award in 2018 for the second year in a row but he hasn’t won it since.

With the COVID-19 pandemic ruling out any winners for 2020 and 2021, we’ve seen just three awards in the last five years. Mane triumphed over Salah in 2019 and 2022 while the Egyptian came in third place last year behind Achraf Hakimi and the winner Victor Osimhen. Let’s take a look at the nominees this year, all of whom have been selected because they have had superior years to Salah - keep that in mind. The 10 men shortlist includes:

• Amine Gouiri (Algeria / Rennes)
• Edmond Tapsoba (Burkina Faso / Bayer Leverkusen)
• Simon Adingra (Cote d'Ivoire / Brighton & Hove Albion)
• Chancel Mbemba (DR Congo / Olympique de Marseille)
• Serhou Guirassy (Guinea / Borussia Dortmund)
• Achraf Hakimi (Morocco / Paris Saint-Germain)
• Soufiane Rahimi (Morocco / Al Ain)
• Ademola Lookman (Nigeria / Atalanta)
• William Troost-Ekong (Nigeria / Al Kholood)
• Ronwen Williams (South Africa / Mamelodi Sundowns)

Taking into account performances from January 2024 until October 2024, Salah was deemed not worthy. Breaking down his 10 months for club and country, he has managed 19 goals and 15 assists in 38 games. That end of last season coincided with the club missing out on the Europa League, Premier League and FA Cup and Egypt crashed out of the Africa Cup of Nations as well after his injury.

Another player who will certainly feel hard done by - especially considering his teammate Tabsoba is on the list - is Xabi Alonso favourite Victor Boniface. The Bayer Leverkusen striker enjoyed the season of his career as Leverkusen won the Bundesliga title, going unbeaten as he managed 14 goals and nine assists in 23 league games. However, an abductor injury ruled him out of the first three months of 2024 which may be the reason why he isn’t included. He also won the German Cup and reached the Europa League final.

For Salah, it was another example of the ‘disrespect’ he has received when it comes to awards. His 18 goals and 10 assists in the Premier League wasn’t enough to place him in the final PFA Player of the Year shortlist but four goals in the final 12 games heading for the title saw other players ranked above him.

As it stands, he started the season in brilliant form with seven goals and seven assists in just 12 games in all competitions - at a rate of 1.16 goal contributions per 90. If he carries on at the same rate - playing the same amount of games as last season (44) - he will total 51 contributions. And any silverware under Arne Slot would surely put him in line for more awards. But this year’s African accolade will pass him by.