Ghana forward Andre Ayew celebrated his final days with Marseille by being named on Monday best African player in Franceโs Ligue 1.
Ayew, 25, finished ahead of Ivory Coastโs Max Gradel (Saint-Etienne) and Tunisiaโs Aymen Abdennour (Monaco).
The winger – a member of the Ghana side that lost to Ivory Coast 9-8 on penalties in this yearโs Africa Cup of Nations final – was picked by a jury of journalists and received the Marc-Vivien Foe Trophy handed out by French radio station RFI and TV channel France 24.
โI am very honoured to have received such a prize,โ said Ayew, whose father Marseille legend Abedi Pele was African footballer of the year three times.
โItโs not just anything for an African player in France. France has had a lot of good African players.
โI have often been close to winning it and this year was the good one. It just proves I have to work even harderโฆ Only work pays.
โItโs been a good season. Maybe one of my best. Iโve improved a lot. I am happy but I can do better and work harder to improve even more.โ
Ayew, who played in both the 2010 and 2014 World Cup finals, said that next Saturdayโs match which will be his final one for Marseille after over a decade at the club would be very strange.
โFinishing third is important and the result against Bastia is important,โ said Ayew referring to Marseilleโs bid to take the final Champions League place on offer.
Ayew has attracted interest from several English clubs including relegation-threatened Newcastle, a regular raider of Ligue 1, Tottenham, Arsenal and the club he idolised as a boy โ Liverpool.
His decision to leave is a mixture of Marseille not being able to meet his wage demands and a wish to seek a new challenge.
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