Osimhen in the CAF Player of the Year award final list, returned to training as his agent and Napoli president joined to discuss his future
Nigeria and Napoli striker Victor Osimhen has made the final 10 shortlist for the 2023 CAF Player of the Year award.
CAF announced the final 10 shortlist on their C handle on Friday.
Other players who made the cut are current holder Sadio Mane, Mohamed Salah, Achraf Hakimi, Yacine Bounou, and Riyad Mahrez.
Also in the race for the award are Sofyan Amrabat, Vincent Aboubakar, Zambo Aguissa, and Youssef En-Nesyri.
Gent Nigerian striker Gift Orban, however, did not make the final five nominee list for the 2023 CAF Young Player of the Year award.
This year’s CAF Player award will take place in Marrakech, Morocco on 11 December, 2023. Osimhen begins training on the pitch in personalised session – report
Meanwhile, Osimhen has recently returned to training on the pitch but is still carrying out personalised sessions as he fights to return to action immediately after the international break according to reports from TMW.
Osimhen has been out of action for over a month now, having picked up an injury to his hamstring while away with Nigeria during the previous international break at the beginning of October.
The 2022-23 capocannoniere has missed six matches across Serie A and the Champions League in the weeks since then.
Osimhen was unable to take part in Walter Mazzarri’s first training session in charge of the Partenopei on Wednesday due to illness but has since begun to step up his recovery process both on the pitch and in the gym.
According to recent updates, Osimhen is pushing to be fit enough to return to action for Mazzarri’s first game away against Atalanta next weekend.
Despite missing a month of action, Osimhen is still the joint-third highest goalscorer in Serie A this season, with six from eight appearances in the league so far.
Sky Italia also states that the Eagles striker wasn’t the only one present at Castel Volturno, as his agent Roberto Calenda was also there. Club CEO Aurelio de Laurentiis was also at the training ground and it isn’t excluded that some conversations about the 24-year-old’s future took place.
There have been meetings in the past between the two parties to sort out a complicated renewal but after an initial agreement was reached, the deal didn’t materialise.