Former Nigerian midfielder, John Ogun, has tipped countryman and Napoli forward, Victor Osimhen, to win the 2023 African Footballer of the Year award, saying CAF should not do otherwise.
The former Hapoel Beer Sheva player made this observation after Osimhen weighed in with a brace in Sunday’s Africa Cup of Nations qualifying tie against Sierra Leone in Monrovia.
The Napoli striker struck on 19 and 32 minutes to give the Super Eagles a 2-0 lead before the hosts scored on 41 and 84 minutes to pull themselves level, while Kelechi Iheanacho scored five minutes in added time to give Nigeria a 3-2 win in the Group A game 5 clash at Samuel Kanyon Doe Stadium.
Impressed by Osimhen’s performance, Ogu took to Twitter to warn CAF against naming another player for the top prize.
“Dear @CAF_Online, please, the next African footballer of the year is @victorosimhen9. We don’t want to hear your story. Thank you,” tweeted the 35-year-old Maccabi Jaffa player, who has scored once in 26 appearances for Nigeria in 2013.
Individually, Osimhen accomplished the most among African players in Europe in the year under review, and he is highly favoured to land the top award and join Victor Ikpeba, Rashidi Yekini, and Nwankwo Kanu as Nigerians who earlier achieved the feat.
Only Algeria’s Riyad Mahrez comes close after winning the treble with Manchester City, but Osimhen is a class apart in terms of individual achievements.
He currently tops the AFCON qualification scorer’s chart, taking his tally to seven with his brace against Sierra Leone, two goals more than Senegal’s Sadio Mane in second position, with just one fixture left in the series.
He was by far the best performer in the 2022–2023 Italian Serie A season, setting records and taking home notable awards.
He scored 32 goals across all competitions for Napoli, recording 26 in the league, to help the Azzurri win the Scudetto after three decades. His tally earned him the Golden Boot as the top scorer, dwarfing reputable strikers like Inter Milan’s Lauturo Martinez, who scored 21 goals to finish second, and Dia of Salernitana, Milan’s Rafael Leão Milan, Ademola Lookman of Atalanta and Milan’s old war horse, Oliver Giroud.
Osimhen scored five goals in the Champions League, making him Africa’s top scorer in Europe’s elite club competition in the 2022–2023 season.
On October 12, 2022, Osimhen scored his first Champions League goal with Napoli in a 4-2 win over Ajax, which secured their qualification to the knockout phase. He scored his first Serie A hat-trick in a 4–0 win over Sassuolo on October 29 and scored a goal and assisted another to help Napoli win 2–1 at Atalanta, becoming Nigeria’s highest goal scorer in the Italian Serie A with 32 goals and surpassing Simy’s record of 31 on November 11.
