Ghana legend Asamoah Gyan believes Nigeria’s Victor Osimhen deserves to win the 2023 African Footballer of the Year award.
According to him, the 24-year-old striker has done enough in the year under review to beat off competition from everyone else.
Osimhen enjoyed a successful 2022/23 season, where his goals were crucial in helping Napoli to be crowned Serie A champions for the first time in 30 years.
The Nigeria international scored 26 goals in the Italian topflight, becoming the first African to emerge as the league’s top scorer.
He also netted five times in the UEFA Champions League as Napoli reached the quarter-finals of the competition.
Osimhen is, however, set to face stiff competition for the African Player of the Year award from Algeria’s Riyad Mahrez, who won the treble with Manchester City last season.
Another candidate with a high chance of annexing the gong is Yassine Bounou, who helped Morocco reach the semi-finals of the Qatar 2022 World Cup and also won the Europa League with Sevilla.
Gyan, however, believes Osimhen’s individual and club achievements supersede that of his other competitors and he deserves the award.
“For me, he deserves it. As a striker and seeing what he is doing, for the first time in over 30 years, winning the league with Napoli. He deserves it,” he told Brilla FM, as quoted by Ghanaweb.
Meanwhile, Gyan and Emmanuel Adebayor were among the stars who graced Jay-Jay Okocha’s 50th birthday celebration.
The Nigerian legend marked his 50th birthday on Monday, August 14, 2023, and held a private party to celebrate the moment.
In videos that have been sighted on social media, several football stars attended the birthday party to share in the joy of their friend.
Among those who were president were Gyan, Adebayor, Khalilou Fadiga, Daniel Amokachi, Julius Aghahowa and Emmanuel Emenike.
