Super Eagles striker Victor Osimhen has added another nod to his growing list of accolades after winning the Footballer of the Year 2023 award at the AIC Oscar del Calcio Awards.
Osimhen played a key role as Napoli won their first Serie A title in 33 years earlier this year.
The Nigerian scored 26 league goals to land the gong at the Italian Footballers’ Association Footballer of the Year award ceremony on Monday night.
“Victor Osimhen is the 2022/23 Footballer of the Year,” the awardees tweeted while announcing the 24-year-old as the winner.
#GGDC2023 ✨
— Gran Galà del Calcio AIC (@GranGalaAIC) December 4, 2023
Victor Osimhen è il calciatore dell’anno 2022/23 #GranGalàDelCalcio #Osimhen #VictorOsimhen #Napoli pic.twitter.com/SWf9yA85nC
Apart from winning the individual prize, Osimhen also earned a spot in the Serie A Team of the Year alongside teammates Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and Kim Min-jae.
Others included in the list are Andrea Bastoni, Theo Hernández, Rafael Leão, Giovanni Di Lorenzo, Hakan Çalhanoğlu, Mike Maignan, Stanislav Lobotka, and Nicolo Barella.
Monday’s event is coming one week before the CAF awards where the striker is in pole position to become the first Nigerian to win Africa’s top player prize since legendary Kanu Nwankwo in 1999. The event is billed for the Moroccan city of Marrakesh. Former Nigerian captains Mikel Obi and Vincent Enyeama were the closest to winning the award since Kanu but they ended second and third respectively in 2013 and 2014.
In October, Osimhen was ranked eighth in the 2023 Ballon d’Or, becoming the highest-rated Nigerian since the inception of the award. Kanu had finished 11th in 1996.