2023 Men's Ballon d'Or: Osimhen best ranked African player; finishes above Liverpool, Man Utd stars 

Victor Osimhen was the best ranked African player at the 2023 Men's Ballon d'Or, finishing in eighth place ahead of Liverpool's Egypt winger Mohamed Salah (11th), Al Hilal's Morocco goalkeeper Yassine Bounou (13th), and Manchester United's Cameroon star Andre Onana (23rd).

The Nigeria international also finished above two players courted by the Nigeria Football Federation before they became cap-tied to their countries of birth in Arsenal winger Bukayo Saka (24th) and Bayern Munich's Jamal Musiala (26th).

Osimhen becomes the first Nigerian player to make it into the top 10 of the Ballon d'Or.

The Super Eagles striker has been in sensational form for club and country in the last twelve months and fully deserves the recognition.

He helped Napoli to end a 33-year wait for a league title, scoring 26 goals in 32 games and winning the top scorer and the Serie A best striker awards in the process, the first African and Nigerian to do so.

The 24-year-old also broke the record for the most goals scored by an African player in a season and the entire history of Italy's top-tier division.

Osimhen is showing no sign of stopping his goalscoring prowess, having netted six goals in 10 games for Napoli in all competitions since the start of the campaign.

Abdulkareem Abdulhamid
 

Copyright ANS

All rights reserved. This material, and other digital content on this website, may not be reproduced, published, rewritten or redistributed in whole or in part without prior express written permission from allnigeriasoccer.com