Riyad Mahrez named African Player of the Year

05 January 2017 22:54

Leicester winger Riyad Mahrez has capped the most successful period of his career by winning the 2016 African Player of the Year award.

The 25-year-old Algerian scored 17 Premier League goals as the Foxes claimed a shock title under Claudio Ranieri's management in 2015-16, with Mahrez's exploits in the team earning him the PFA Players' Player of the Year award in April.

The Confederation of African Football (CAF) on Thursday night revealed that Mahrez had polled 361 votes to beat last year's winner Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang of Borussia Dortmund into second place, while Liverpool midfielder Sadio Mane was third in the race to be named the best African player.

Arsenal's 20-year-old Nigeria winger Alex Iwobi was crowned Youth Player of the Year after enjoying a breakout season for both club and country.

Elsewhere, striker Kelechi Iheanacho, who has scored 20 goals in all competitions across his 52 appearances for Manchester City, was named Africa's 'Most Promising Talent', an honour the 20-year-old Nigerian previously received three years ago.

Source: PA