Toure in running for fifth African player prize

Yaya Toure has every chance of retaining his African footballer of the year award after featuring on the shortlist of 10 nominees revealed on Monday.

The free-scoring Manchester City midfielder captained the Ivory Coast to glory at the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations in February, and has won the Confederation of African Football award in each of the last four years.

His stiffest competition could come from Borussia Dortmund and Gabon forward Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who is on top of the Bundesliga scoring charts at the moment alongside Bayern Munich’s Robert Lewandowski.

Andre Ayew of Swansea City and Ghana and Southampton’s Senegal winger Sadio Mane are among the other contenders.

The winner, decided by votes from coaches or technical directors of African national teams, will be announced at a ceremony in Abuja, Nigeria, on January 7 next year.

Nominees

André Ayew (Ghana/Swansea City)

Aymen Abdennour (Tunisia/Valencia)

Mudather Eltaib Ibrahim ‘Karika’ (Sudan/El Hilal)

Mohamed Salah (Egypt/AS Roma)

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Gabon/Borussia Dortmund)

Sadio Mané (Senegal/Southampton)

Serge Aurier (Ivory Coast/Paris Saint-Germain)

Sofiane Feghouli (Algeria/Valencia)

Yacine Brahimi (Algeria/Porto)

Yaya Touré (Ivory Coast/Manchester City)