Senegal's and Liverpool's Sadio Mane has been named the African Player of the Year.
The announcement was made in Cairo by the Confederation of African Football at a night awards gala.
Sadio Mane's crowning comes months after leading his national side The Lions of Teranga of Senegal to the African Cup of Nations (AFCON) final and winning the UEFA Champions League with Liverpool.
He received the prize while putting on an African ensemble and an endless smile that betrayed his joy at having been declared the winner.
"I am really very happy and at the same time I am very happy to win the prize," Mane said as quoted by Capital FM.
To win the coveted African individual prize, the Senegalese had to beat his teammate Mohamed Salah, who plays for the Pharaohs of Egypt, and Manchester City's and Algeria's Riyadh Mahrez.
It is the first time in his footballing career that Mane has been honoured as the African Player of the Year.
According to the Guardian, Mane becomes the second Senegalese to win the award after another Liverpool player, El Hadji-Diouf, in 2001 and 2002.
Algeria's Riyadh Mahrez won it in 2016 while Mohamed Salah won it in 2017 and 2018.
Mane's Liverpool is in a strong position in the English Premier League and appears on course to lift the league's trophy.
Should Liverpool win the English Premier League, it would be the culmination of an exciting career.
The club's head coach Jurgen Klopp has made a point of ensuring that Mane stars in every Liverpool fixture, a testament to the Senagale's stature