Moroccan midfielder Sofiane Boufal has been named the best African player in Ligue 1.
The Lille player beat Algerian Rachid Ghezzal of Olympique Lyon and Senegal’s Cheikh N’Doye of Angers to win the Marc-Vivien Foe Trophy, named after the Cameroon international who died of a heart attack in 2003.
Boufal succeeds Andre Ayew, who won the award last year before leaving Marseille at the end of the 2014/15 season and signing for Premier League side Swansea.
Boufal may well follow in the Ghanaian’s footsteps, having been strongly linked to Tottenham Hotspur, while new English champions Leicester City have also been mentioned in the British media as possible suitors.
Boufal is the third Moroccan to win the award, joining countrymen Marouane Chamakh (2009) and Younes Belhanda (2012).
The 22-year-old’s award comes in recognition of the 11 goals and five assists he has provided for Lille in Ligue 1.
Lille will complete their 2015/16 league season with a match away to Saint-Etienne on Saturday night, but Boufal will miss the encounter due to injury.
