Roma players Mohamed Salah, Seydou Keita and Gervinho are among the 50 candidates nominated for the Confederation of African Football’s African Player of the Year 2015 award.

The award was established by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) in 1992, though did exist in a previous incarnation between 1970 and 1994, when the French magazine France Football was responsible for deciding the honor.

Ivory Coast’s Gervinho, Mali’s Keita and Egypt’s Salah are thus looking to add their names to an illustrious list of past greats to have won the award. In recent times the honor has been dominated by Manchester City’s Yaya Toure, who has won the last four editions, while Samuel Eto’o (4) and Didier Drogba (2) have also claimed the title on multiple occasions. Looking back even further, the award has been won by legendary African players such as George Weah and Abedi Pele, who received the honor during their spells at AC Milan and Marseille respectively.

It’s great news for the three Giallorossi stars, who have all played their part in the early stages of the 2015-16 season. Salah has appeared in every one of Roma’s nine matches so far this term, scoring three goals, while Keita and Gervinho have both played six times. The Ivorian is currently Roma’s leading goalscorer, with three goals in Serie A and one against BATE Borisov in the Champions League.

Having won the African Cup of Nations earlier this year, the Ivory Coast dominate the shortlist with four nominations.

So who do you think will claim the prize? You’ll have to wait until January to find out…

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