CAF have announced the three-man shortlist for the AITEO-CAF 2017 African Footballer of the Year award in an event held at Movenpic hotel in Accra today.

Mohammed Salah, Sadio Mane, and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang were shortlisted for the flagship award which is set for 4th January 2018 in Ghana.

The nominees outstanding 2017;

Mohamed Salah - Egypt & Liverpool

Mo Salah was King of the Pharaohs in 2017 - scoring a dramatic stoppage-time penalty against Congo to fire Egypt to their first World Cup since 1990 while also having a hand in four of the North Africans' five goals as they finished runners-up at the Africa Cup of Nations.

He also performed at club level - scoring 15 goals and making 11 others as Roma finished Serie A runners-up behind Juventus before starting his Liverpool career in equally impressive fashion, with 20 goals from his first 26 games.

He has already swooped the BBC’s 2017 AFOTY award and his hot favorite for this one too.

Sadio Mane - Senegal & Liverpool

Voted on to the PFA Team of the Year and crowned Liverpool's Player of the Year, Mane, 25, was also one of just two Africans to make the Ballon d'Or shortlist.

He also shone as Senegal reached their first World Cup since 2002. A clinical victory over a South Africa at the Peter Mokaba Stadium in Polokwane sealed their place in Russia, with Mane key to the Teranga Lions' victory with both assists in a 2-0 win.

Liverpool's then-record buy finished his first season at the club as the joint top scorer as the Reds qualified for the Champions League with only their second top-four finish in eight years.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang - Gabon & Borussia Dortmund

Aubameyang, 28, has had an outstanding 2017, scoring 35 goals for Dortmund, with whom he won the German Cup.

The Gabonese became the first African to top the Bundesliga scoring charts outright and only the fourth player in Bundesliga history to hit over 30 goals - a feat that helped him become the sole African on Fifa's Player of the Year shortlist.

The final phase of the voting will involve Head Coaches or Technical Directors of the National Associations alongside ten members from the Independent Media and TV Consultants group.

For the first time, captains of the senior men’s national teams of the affiliated National Associations would also take part in decision making process of the African Player of the Year and Player of the Year (Based in Africa).

The winner of the award will be named at the AITEO CAF awards 2017 ceremony to be held in Accra next year.

By Daraja Mutari/Ghanaguardian.com