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Rabat – Moroccan footballer Bilal El Khannouss was confirmed as one of the five nominees competing for the Soulier d’Ebene, or the Ebony Shoe award in Belgium.
The trophy is awarded annually to the best football player of African origin playing in the Belgian Pro League.
El Khannouss, who plays with Genk, made 35 appearances with his club in the 2022-2023 season.
During his appearances, the 19-year-old Atlas Lion scored one goal and made three assists, according to Footy Stats.
In addition to his appearances with the Belgian club, El Khannouss also displayed spectacular performances with Morocco’s national football team at the 2022 World Cup.
During the competition, Morocco became the first Arab and African team to qualify to the semi-finals.
In addition to El Khannouss, four other players are competing for the award, including Victor Boniface, Gift Orban, Joseph Paintsil, and Mike Tresor.
The award holder will be revealed at the African Awards, which will take place on May 22 at the Hotel Tangla in Brussels.
According to recent statistics from the International Centre for Sports Studies’ (CIES) Football Observatory, El Khannouss is among the top 100 players under 23 years old in terms of transfer value outside of Europe’s “big five” leagues.
The midfielder was ranked 61st with a value of around €13 million (MAD 131.7 million).
If El Khannouss wins, he will be the second Atlas Lion to win the trophy for the second year in a row after Tarik Tissoudali – who clinched the award in 2022.
Tissoudali is also one of the Moroccan national team’s key players.
The first player ever to win the award was Nigeria’s Daniel Amokachi in 1992, when he played for Club Brugge, according to Belgian news outlet Le Soir.
