Samuel Chukwueze, a Villareal football player from Nigeria, has been named the league’s Best African Player for the 2022–2023 campaign.
The Super Eagle won the award for his work with Villarreal in the 2022–2023 season of which he started 27 of the 37 games he participated in.
Villareal stated that Samu was chosen as the winner by more than 30,000 fans and 26 journalists across the continent, edging out players like Yassine Bono, Iñaki Williams, and Youssef En-Nesyri, among others.
Chukwueze defeated Iñaki Williams, the record-breaking Athletic Club forward who scored 10 goals in 36 LaLiga Santander games this season and made an incredible 251 consecutive LaLiga appearances for the Basque team over seven seasons, to win the LaLiga Santander Mid-Season African MVP award.
“Bounou, the winner of the first-ever LaLiga Santander African MVP Award, was also a contender. His exploits in the penalty shootout against AS Roma propelled Sevilla FC to a seventh UEFA Europa League championship and Bounou’s second with the football club.
“The winner of the LaLiga Santander African MVP Award for this season, however, was Chukwueze. The Nigerian international was a constant offensive danger for Villarreal CF and had returned to his dazzling best after a discouraging injury absence. His 155 dribbles this season were among the top three in LaLiga Santander, making him one of the league’s most thrilling players to watch,” the club said.