Nigerian forward Victor Osimhen has achieved another milestone by clinching the Footballer of the Year award for 2023 at the AIC Oscar del Calcio Awards. Osimhen played a crucial role in Napoli’s triumph, securing their first Serie A title in 33 years.
With an impressive tally of 26 league goals, the 24-year-old secured the Italian Footballers’ Association Footballer of the Year accolade at the ceremony held on Monday night. The announcement was made via a tweet from the awardees, proclaiming Osimhen as the 2022/23 Footballer of the Year.
In addition to the individual honor, Osimhen earned a coveted spot in the Serie A Team of the Year, alongside teammates Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and Kim Min-jae. The prestigious list also features notable players such as Andrea Bastoni, Theo Hernández, Rafael Leão, Giovanni Di Lorenzo, Hakan Çalhanoğlu, Mike Maignan, Stanislav Lobotka, and Nicolo Barella.
This recognition comes just a week ahead of the CAF awards, where Osimhen is a frontrunner to become the first Nigerian to claim Africa’s top player prize since the legendary Kanu Nwankwo in 1999. The CAF awards are scheduled to take place in the Moroccan city of Marrakesh. Notably, former Nigerian captains Mikel Obi and Vincent Enyeama came close to winning the award in 2013 and 2014, finishing second and third, respectively.
In October, Osimhen secured the eighth position in the 2023 Ballon d’Or rankings, marking the highest placement for a Nigerian player since the award’s inception in 1996 when Kanu finished 11th.
