Former Chelsea striker Didier Drogba has backed Sadio Mane to be a front-runner for the Ballon d’Or and hopes the Senegalese winger can become only the second African to win the award.
Mane helped the Reds win the Champions League and assisted Senegal to the African Cup of Nations final – where they lost to Algeria. Mane ended the season as the joint-top scorer in the Premier League, with 22 goals.
Mane is one of seven Reds stars to be shortlisted for the prestigious award – with Trent Alexander-Arnold, Alisson, Roberto Firmino, Mohamed Salah, Virgil van Dijk and Gini Wijnaldum.
Drogba who scored 164 goals in 381 appearances for Chelsea was shortlisted eight times for the Ballon d’Or but never won it, he finished in fourth place behind Kaka, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo in 2007 but now believes the Mane can win the coveted prize.
‘What Mane does in the Premier League, very few players are able to do,’ Drogba, now a Ballon d’Or ambassador, said while speaking to Paris Match.
‘It is possible [he can emulate George Weah], but it would have been possible before.
‘There are many players who have well represented the African continent, like Samuel Eto’o.
‘What is a pity is that when we talk about African players, we talk about the continent, we do not speak of a country. We will never say Kylian Mbappe represents the European continent. It is a small shift that is present.’
Liverpool team-mates Virgil van Dijk and Alisson Becker are also seen as candidates to win, along with the likes of Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, and Raheem Sterling.
