Emmanuel Adebayor, the former Togo striker who has played for clubs such as Manchester City, Real Madrid, and Arsenal, recently expressed his opinion that Victor Osimhen deserves the African Player of the Year award for 2023. Adebayor justified his stance by highlighting Osimhen’s exceptional performances during the past season.
While the official date of the African Ballon d’Or ceremony, which rewards the 2023 African Player of the Year, is still awaiting announcement, predictions are rife to determine potential winners of this prestigious distinction. In an interview with BBC Sport, Adebayor, the 2008 award winner, gave his opinion on the matter, before openly naming Osimhen, who had an impressive season with Napoli.
“It’s very simple, we’ve observed the past season and, for me, if you ask me who deserves the title of African Player of the Year 2023, it’s Osimhen, because of what he achieved with Napoli, scoring in all the big matches in Italy and also winning the Scudetto,” said the former captain of the Togo Sparrowhawks.
Adebayor also mentioned that other contenders for the title, such as Sadio Mané and Mohamed Salah, had more difficult seasons. He pointed out that Napoli’s star player, Osimhen, was the most deserving and that no one is in a good position to challenge him. “If you ask me to vote and I have 10 votes, I would give 12 to Osimhen for the title of African Player of the Year 2023,” he added.
As a reminder, Osimhen played a crucial role in Napoli’s victory, allowing the club to win its first championship title since 1990. He scored 26 goals, thus becoming the first African player to win the Golden Boot in the Italian championship. These impressive feats have placed Osimhen among the favorites to win the prestigious award. It should be remembered that the last Nigerian to have won it was Nwankwo Kanu in 1999.
