Nigerian international Ademola Lookman has been tipped as the overwhelming favourite to win this year's African Footballer of the Year award.

Lookman, 26, has been in remarkable form since joining Atalanta from RB Leipzig in the summer of 2022 for a fee around the region of €9.35m, including bonuses.

The Super Eagle was Atalanta’s standout performer last season, starring for Atalanta in the Europa League final after netting a historic hat-trick against Bayer Leverkusen to guide the Serie A outfit to their first-ever European title.

The former Leicester City loanee was ranked the 14th best player at the 2024 Ballon d'Or ceremony, becoming the only African star to make France Football's 30-man shortlist.

As we approach the CAF award in the next two weeks, the conversation surrounding who is the deserving winner of the prestigious award has begun to dominate discussions.

Guinean football expert Oumar Dieng has backed his countryman Serhou Guirassy to clinch the award ahead of Lookman.

“The criteria are clear. Individual performances are weighed after the collective ones. If we consider the former, the Guinean is ahead of his rival, but looking at the latter, Lookman has the edge,” Dieng told Ledjely.

“We hope that the juries will make the decision in our favour, which will bring pride to all Guineans since we have not won this award for a long time.

“Guirassy would then become the second Guinean after Cherif Souleymane in 1972 to win the African Ballon d'Or.”

According to Transfermarkt, Guirassy scored 30 goals last season, surpassing Lookman's 17.

This season, the Borussia Dortmund forward has already netted 10 goals, while the Serie A star has scored nine.

The 2024 CAF Awards will be held in Marrakech, Morocco, on Monday, December 16.