Ghanaian footballers in the past few years have struggled to come close to winning the continent’s most prestigious prize, the African Footballer of Year, even though they perform creditably with clubs in Europe.
Big names such as UEFA Champions League winners Samuel Osei Kuffour, Michael Essien and Sulley Muntari alongside Asamoah Gyan and Kwadwo Asamoah who decades ago were key players with their various teams have missed out on the gong for inexplicable reasons.
Ever since legend Abedi Ayew “Pele” lifted the award three times between 1991 and 1993, the closest a Ghanaian player has come was his son Andre Ayew’s third place finish in 2015.
However, the current generation of players like Mohammed Kudus of West Ham, Fatawu Issahaku of Leicester City and Alexander Djiku of Fenerbahce just to mention a few have not gone past the top 10 best players in Africa. Ibrahim Sunday, a former winner in 1971, has been explaining reasons that could be why Ghanaian players have struggled lately in getting closer to the award.
“Maybe it’s the performance, it’s not enough for them to be selected,” Ibrahim Sunday told Pan-Africa Football. "Generally, Ghana football has gone down so automatically there won’t be any possibility to select an African Footballer of the Year even though some of them like [Mohammed] Kudus and others are doing well in Europe but I think it’s not enough for them to be selected, that’s my opinion," Sunday continued.
Regarding how Ghana can build a pool of players who are capable of winning the coveted continental award, Sunday advocates for a return to developing football from the grassroot level.
“As it is now, we have to go back and start again so that we will be able to jump the hurdle,” Ibrahim Sunday told Pan-Africa Football. "To jump the hurdle, it is not easy now so we need to work very hard with our players, the management of our players and then the performance of the players and everything is important. I think we are not doing very well to be selected as one of the top players in Africa.”
Last year’s award was won by Nigeria and Atalanta forward Ademola Lookman who beat out competition from Achraf Hakimi and Guinea’s Serhou Guirassy. The former RB Leipzig, Leicester and Fulham forward also scored three times as Nigeria reached the final of the 2024 Africa Cup of Nations where they were edged out by Sebastian Haller's late goal for hosts Ivory Coast in the final.
Lookman scored 17 goals and contributed 10 assists in 45 games across all competitions for Atalanta in the 2023-24 season.
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