The UNFP (National Union of Professional Footballers playing in France) shared on Tuesday evening the names of the nominees for the various end-of-season awards. The awards ceremony will take place on May 13th. Among the players mentioned, there are seven African footballers.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Olympique de Marseille) is in the running for the Ligue 1 Uber Eats Player of the Year award. Although it’s mainly in the Europa League that the Gabonese stood out with 10 goals in 11 matches and clinching the title of top scorer in the history of the competition, his statistics in the league are impressive as well, despite his difficult start with the Olympian club. With 14 goals in 31 games, the former Arsenal player has rightfully earned his place alongside Kylian Mbappé, Ousmane Dembélé, Pierre Lees-Melou, and Edon Zhegrova.
Among the nominees for the Ligue 1 Young Player of the Year award, we find Eliesse Ben Seghir, the young (19 years old) Moroccan international attacking midfielder from AS Monaco, who was already among the young talents of Ligue 1 last season. During this 2023-2024 season, the new Lion of the Atlas distinguished himself mainly during the first quarter of 2024, as he was injured for most of the first half of the season. He played 11 matches and scored 1 goal in Ligue 1. There are 5 nominees in Ligue 2!
In Ligue 2, the African players competing for the Player of the Year title are as follows: the Algerians Himad Abdelli (Angers SCO) and Ilan Kebbal (Paris FC), as well as the Bissau-Guinean Alexandre Mendy, the current top scorer with his 20 goals for SM Caen.
Eliesse Ben Seghir nommé dans la catégorie "Meilleur Espoir" aux Trophées @UNFP du Football saison 2023-2024 🇲🇦🔝#TropheesUNFP 🏆 pic.twitter.com/mTasMF7j6a
— AS Monaco 🇲🇨 (@AS_Monaco) April 30, 2024
For the title of Ligue 2 Goalkeeper of the Year, we find the Ivorian and AFCON winner, Yahia Fofana, who is Abdelli’s teammate at SCO, currently in 3rd place and still in the race for promotion to the top flight. The Malian international goalkeeper Mamadou Samassa, who had a full season (33 matches) with Stade Lavallois and had indeed declined the AFCON by mutual agreement with the Mayenne club, is also competing in this category.
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