Salah wins BBC African Footballer of Year for second straight year

Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah has won the voting for the BBC African Footballer of the Year Award for the second straight year. 

The Egypt international beat out Liverpool team-mate Sadio Mane, along with highly-regarded Napoli defender Kalidou Koulibaly – both of whom feature for Senegal.

Juventus and Morocco defender Medhi Benatia and Atletico Madrid and Ghana midfielder Thomas Partey rounded out the shortlist for the award, which had been compiled by a panel of African experts.

"It's a great feeling. I would like to win it also next year,” Salah told the BBC after his victory.

"I think there's many [great] moments in 2018. The game against Tottenham was top and the game against Roma here was also unbelievable.

“I feel like I'm scoring goals, helping the team to get the points to be top in the league and that's always a great feeling."

When asked his goal for this year, he replied: "Just to win something with the club so everyone is excited, everyone is happy about that, so I also try to push myself every day, to help the team win something.

"This season everyone wants to win something. So I think we will carry on until we see."

Salah enjoyed a record setting season with Liverpool last year, breaking the Premier League mark for goals in a 38-game season with 32. He finished with an impressive 44 goals across all competitions last season, helping lead the Reds to the Champions League final.

While an injury sustained in the final in Kiev on a challenge by Sergio Ramos nearly derailed his World Cup with Egypt, Salah returned for his nation for their final two group stage games. He scored in both contests, though Egypt lost both games and were eliminated in the group stage of the competition.

While there was some talk of Salah getting off to a slow start to start 2018-19, the Egypt star has rounded into fine form.

He has already netted 13 times this season, with his 10 goals in the Premier League good for a tie atop the scoring charts with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.

Salah's winner midweek against Napoli also ensured Liverpool’s qualification for the knockout stage of the Champions League.

Past winners of the award include Didier Drogba, Yaya Toure, Michael Essien, Riyad Mahrez and Jay-Jay Okocha.