RFI and France 24 are revealing this Thursday, May 2, the names of the three finalists for the Marc-Vivien Foé 2024 prize, which rewards the best African footballer who played in Ligue 1 during the 2023-2024 season. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Nabil Bentaleb and Achraf Hakimi remain in the running after a first selection of eleven players.
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Is Gabonese Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang on track to win the Marc-Vivien Foé Prize for the second time after 2013? He is in any case in the race for the trophy alongside the Algerian Nabil Bentaleb and the Moroccan Achraf Hakimi, while there were eleven contenders. The name of the winner will be announced on May 13 on RFI and on the websites rfi.fr and france24.com.
Presentation of the three finalists in alphabetical order
AUBAMEYANG Pierre-Emerick, striker (Gabon/Marseille)
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang passed through Monaco, Dijon, and had the heyday of Saint-Etienne and Ligue 1 between 2011 and 2013, before moving to the Bundesliga side of Dortmund. He also played in the Premier League with Arsenal and Chelsea. The one who also tasted La Liga with Barcelona returned to French soil in 2023 in Marseille. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang received the Marc-Vivien Foé Prize in 2013 when he was from Saint-Etienne. He could join the Ivorian Gervinho, the only player to have won the prize twice (2010 and 2011). Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is the only Panther to have been named in the top trio, he finished third in 2012, the year when the Moroccan Younès Belhanda was crowned.
BENTALEB Nabil, midfielder, (Algeria/Lille)
It is in the club of his hometown that Nabil Bentaleb plays. The one who spent several years with the Germans FC Schalke 04 knows the house of the Mastiffs well since it is there that he was trained during his junior career. This pure Lille resident, who admired the Ivorian Gervinho or the Belgian Eden Hazard, dreams of taking his team to the Ligue 1 podium this season. The Algerian international is in any case part of the LOSC executives. No Algerian international has won the award. Like Nabil Bentaleb, Rachid Ghezzal, Ryad Boudebouz, Islam Slimani and Andy Delort have stood on the podium since the creation of the Marc-Vivien Foé Prize in 2009.
HAKIMI Achraf, defender (Morocco/PSG)
A senior player in the Parisian squad, Achraf Hakimi is often essential on the right side of the defense. Having passed through Real Madrid, Borussia Dortmund and Inter Milan, Achraf Hakimi settled in the capital club in 2021. The Moroccan international is still doing well with a new coach. He is an essential element of Luis Enrique’s tactical system this season. He could become the fourth Lion of the Atlas after Marouane Chamakh (2009), Younès Belhanda (2012) and Sofiane Boufal (2016) to climb to the top step. Achraf Hakimi has never been part of the top three. Will the French champion be the second defender in a row to win the trophy after the Congolese Chancel Mbemba in 2023?