LIVERPOOL AND EGYPT star Mohamed Salah has been named BBC African Footballer of the Year 2017.
Salah, 25, saw off competition from club team-mate Sadio Mane, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Naby Keita and Victor Moses to win the individual gong.
“I’m very happy to win this award, it’s a special feeling for me,” the forward told BBC.
“I’d like to thank everybody; my teammates and the people I work with.
“I am very happy here at the club, I’ve had a very good start here. Also the manager [Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp] has helped me to settle into the team.
“Last season I had a very good season with Roma, so I need to thank my teammates [there] and also my teammates in the national team.
“The people I work with are very professional and I’m happy with them.
“[Now] I’d also like to win it next year!”
Salah has enjoyed a remarkable year, playing a key role in helping Egypt qualify for the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
He has also scored 19 goals in all competitions in what is proving to be an incredible debut campaign at Liverpool following his summer move from Roma.
Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp added: “It’s a fantastic prize for a pretty good player!
“I am a really lucky person because I’ve had the opportunity to work with a few fantastic, outstandingly good players – and now I am happy I have it with Mo.”
Salah is currently the Premier League’s top goalscorer with 13 strikes so far, while he also had a hand in all seven (five goals, two assists) goals that took Egypt to their first World Cup since 1990.
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