Salah is 2017 African Footballer of the Year

Liverpool star Mohamed Salah on Thursday night in Ghana  added the African Player of the Year award to his rapidly expanding collection of individual honours.

The Egyptian, scorer of 23 goals in all competitions midway through his first season at Anfield, has been voted BBC African Footballer of the Year and Arab Player of the Year.

Salah, Liverpool team-mate Sadio Mane of Senegal came second and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang of Borussia Dortmund placed third.

Salah thus succeeds Algerian Riyad Mahrez of Leicester City as the number one African footballer.

Salah becomes the second Egyptian after 1983 winner Mahmoud al Khatib to hoist the symbol of individual brilliance.

It would be the first time since 1986 that north Africans have won successive editions of the annual poll, which this year involved national coaches, journalists, officials and the public.

Morocco midfielder Mohamed Timoumi was the 1985 winner, followed bycompatriot Badou Zaki, one of two goalkeepers to be voted the best African footballer.

Footballers from the west of the continent have dominated recently with Samuel Eto’o of Cameroon and Yaya Toure of the Ivory Coast each winning four times.

While Salah has made the top three for the first time, prolific Bundesliga scorer Aubameyang finished first once and second twice in the past three award ceremonies.

Mane came third last season, but his valuable input for Liverpool has been overshadowed by Salah, second in the Premier League scorers’ charts behind Harry Kane of Tottenham Hotspur.

Asisat Oshoala won her third Women’s Player of the Year award on Thursday edging out Cameroon’s Gabrielle Onguene and Christina Kgatlana of South Africa in the process.

But Nigeria technical coach Gernot Rohr lost the Coach of the Year award to Hector Cuper, who led Egypy to qualify for the World Cup for the first time in 28 years.

Egypt followed it up with the National Team of the Year award which also had Nigeria and Cameroon as contenders.