See the full shortlist below.
Ahmed Musa (CSKA Moscow, Nigeria)
Andre Ayew (Swansea City, Ghana)
Aymen Abdennour (Valencia,Tunisia)
Baghdad Bonjah (Étoile du Sahel, Algeria)
Bassem Morsi (Zamalek, Egypt)
Chrisitian Atsu (Bournemouth, Ghana)
Dieu Merci Mbokani (Norwich, D.R Congo)
El Arbi Hillel Soudani (Dynamo Zagreb, Algeria)
Faouzi Ghoulam (Napoli, Algeria)
Férébory Doré (Angers, Congo)
Gervais Yao Kouassi ( AS Roma, Cote d’Ivoire)
Ibrahima Traoré (Borussia Mönchengladbach, Guinea)
Javier Balboa (Al-Faisaly, Equatorial Guinea)
Héldon Ramos (Rio Ave, Cape Verde)
Mame Diouf (Stoke City, Senegal)
Max Alain Gradel (Bournemouth, Cote d’Ivoire)
Mehdi Benatia (Bayern Munich, Morocco)
Modather Al Tayeb (Al Hilal, Sudan)
Mohamed Salah (AS Roma, Egypt)
Nicolas Nkoulou (Marseille, Cameroon)
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Borussia Dortmund, Gabon)
Robert Kidiaba (T.P Mazembe, D.R Congo)
Rudy Gestede (Aston Villa, Benin)
Riyad Mahrez (Leicester City, Algeria)
Sadio Mané (Southampton, Senegal)
Serge Aurier (Paris Saint Germain, Côte d’Ivoire)
Seydou Keita (AS Roma, Mali)
Sofiane Feghouli (Valencia, Algeria)
Stéphane Mbia (Trabzonspor, Cameroon)
Thievy Bifouma (Granada, Congo)
Victor Wanyama (Southampton, Kenya)
Vincent Aboubakar (FC Porto, Cameroon)
Vincent Enyeama (Lille, Nigeria)
Yacine Brahimi (FC Porto, Algeria)
Yannick Bolasie (Crystal Palace, DR Congo)
Yasine Chikhaoui (Al-Gharafa, Tunisia)
Yaya Toure (Man City, Cote d’Ivoire)