CAF Awards: Salah already the big favourite for 2025?

With at least a year to go before the next CAF Awards ceremony, one contender for "African Player of the Year" is already out in front of the favourites, and his name is Mohamed Salah.

Salah, a record-breaking season

He has started the season at a flying pace, and nothing has stopped him since. Mohamed Salah has broken or set a string of records since the start of the campaign, and his legacy at Liverpool and in England keeps growing. To date, he holds the record for most goals in Europe for Liverpool (49) and is the club's third-highest scorer of all time with 229 goals in 373 games. He also holds the record for most games (38) with a goal and an assist in Premier League history, and since Sunday he is the first player in Premier League history to score at least 10 goals and provide 10 assists before Christmas. Ahead of Boxing Day, which starts on Thursday 26 December, Salah is top of the scoring charts (15) and the assists table (11), all in just 16 league games.

Read also: Mohamed Salah sets historic Premier League record

On course for a third continental title?

Look as you might, you will not find an African player who matches Mohamed Salah this season. In all competitions, the Egyptian has 18 goals and 15 assists in 24 games. Those are absolutely phenomenal numbers for a 32-year-old forward enjoying a second wind. With Liverpool top of the Premier League and winning every game in the Champions League, Salah is well placed to win his third "African Player of the Year" award, after back-to-back wins in 2017 and 2018. But he needs to win with the Reds, and for now he looks to be in a pretty good position to do so.