Liverpool and Egyptian striker Mohamed Salah voted the BBC African Player of the Year

EGYPTIAN striker Mohamed Salah has been named as the BBC African Footballer of the Year for 2017 beating four other rivals to the honour on the back of his recent blisteri8ng form for Liverpool.

Salah, 25, is the leading scorer in the English Premiership, finding the back of the net 13 times this season. It is this form that led respondents to return a record number of votes in his favour, enabling Salah to pip Gabon's Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Guinean Naby Keita, Sadio Mane of Senegal and Nigeria's Victor Moses to the award.

"I am very happy to win this award It's always a special feeling when you win something and I feel like I had a great year, so I'm very happy.

"I would like to thank my Liverpool team-mates and I also had a good season with Roma so I have to thank my team-mates there and my team-mates in the national team. Since I came here, I wanted to work hard and show everyone my football and I wanted to come back to the Premier League since I left, so I am very happy," Salah said.

Earlier this year, Salah was the central figure for Egypt as they finished runners-up at the Africa Cup of Nations. He also had a hand in all seven of the goals that took the Pharaohs to their first World Cup since 1990, assisting two and scoring five, including the stoppage-time penalty in Cairo against Congo that qualified them for Russia 2018.

Salah added: "I want to be the best Egyptian ever so I work hard. I always follow my own way and I want everyone in Egypt to follow my way."

He is the third player from Egypt to win the award and first since 2008. By winning the BBC African Footballer of the year award, Salah adds his name to a list of legends including Jay-Jay Okocha, Didier Drogba and Michael Essien.

Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp, who handed the trophy to the player at the club's Melwood training academy, said it was a well deserved award.  He added:  "I am a really lucky person as I had the opportunity to work with a few outstanding players and I am happy that it is now with Mo.

"The good thing is that he is still young, there is a lot of space for improvement, a lot of potential still that we can work on but that's how it should be. It's a big pleasure, to be honest, to work with him."