Kamaldeen Sulemana makes 5-man shortlist for CAF Young Player of the Year award
Kamaldeen Sulemana makes 5-man shortlist for CAF Young Player of the Year award
Ghanaian prodigy Kamaldeen Sulemana has made the final shortlist for CAF’s Young Player of the Year award.
The 20-year-old was initially nominated alongside nine others in the category, but the list has now been cut down to just five.
The other four nominees for the award are Burkina Faso and Lorient’s Dango Ouattara, Ivory Coast and RB Salzburg’s Karim Konate, Senegal and Metz’s Pape Matar Sarr, and Tunisia and Manchester United star Hannibal Mejbri.
Kamaldeen became the most expensive Ghanaian teenage footballer and second most expensive African teenager following his move from Nordsjaelland to Rennes last summer.
The winger, who turned 20 in February, took Ligue 1 by storm and earned a reputation as one of the league’s most exciting players.
His 2021/22 season ended prematurely following a back injury in March but he still managed five goals and two assists in all competitions.
Meanwhile, no Ghanaian player has been nominated for the flagship CAF Men’s Player of the Year award.
Arsenal star Thomas Partey, Al Sadd’s Andre Ayew, and Crystal Palace’s Jordan Ayew all missed out on the shortlist.
The absence of Ghanaian footballers on the nominees’ list is perhaps due to the Black Stars’ poor showing at the 2021 AFCON in January.
-Pulsegh
