2022 CAF AWARDS: Kamaldeen Sulemana makes Young Player final shortlist

Ghana’s Kamaldeen Sulemana has made the final shortlist for the CAF Young Player of the Year award.

Sulemana was included in the list announced by the Confederation of African Football on Monday.

Sulemana, who had a good debut season in the French Ligue 1 with Rennes will be hoping for the crown when he comes against Dango Ouattara of Burkina Faso & Lorient, Karim Konate of Cote d’Ivoire & ASEC/RB Salzburg, Pape Matar Sarr (Senegal & Metz) and Hannibal Mejbri (Tunisia & Manchester United).

Even though he had some injury challenges during the season, he managed 20 appearances and scored four goals and provided two assists causing him to gain some good attention leading to his nomination for the CAF Award.

He joined Stade Rennes last summer for 20 million euros (excluding bonuses) from FC Nordsjaelland (Denmark).

The 20-year-old is ranked 9th among the 10 most expensive U-23 players from the top 5 European leagues valued at 33.8 million euros.

Sulemana was part of Ghana’s squad that featured at the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations in Cameroon, his debut in a senior tournament with the national team.

The CAF Awards will be held in Rabat, Morocco on July 21 and according to CAF, “the winners of each category will be decided by a voting panel made up of CAF Technical Committee, media professionals, Head Coaches & Captains of Member Associations and clubs involved at the group stage of the Interclub competitions for the 2021/22 season.”

Here is the full nominations list from CAF: