Nantes’ Moses Simon congratulates Lille’s Osimhen on best Ligue 1 African player award

Moses Simon has taken to social media to congratulate Victor Osimhen, who beat him to the Marc Vivien Foe Prize for the best African player in Ligue 1 during the 2019-20 season.

The Nigerian forward was in hot form for Les Dogues, scoring 13 goals in 27 top-flight matches.

Some of his most notable goals were a debut brace on the opening day of the season in a 2-1 win over Nantes and another brace in a 3-0 win over Saint-Etienne two games later.

Osimhen’s efforts were, however, not enough to secure Lille Champions League football as they finished a point adrift of Rennes after the campaign was concluded at matchday 28 because of the coronavirus pandemic.

The 21-year-old did get a taste of elite European football, netting in Group H games with Chelsea and at Valencia, which ended in a 2-1 and a 4-1 defeat, respectively.

Osimhen’s fine form has seen him linked with a move to Serie A side Napoli, however, he has come out to claim no deal of such is currently in place.

Congrats my bro @victorosimhen9 glad you have it more success👊 pic.twitter.com/5J3vAwsZDj

— MSimon27 (@Simon27Moses) June 29, 2020

“Congrats my bro Victor Osimhen. Glad you have it more success,” Simon posted on Twitter

Osimhen was up against Simon, Saint-Etienne’s Denis Bouanga, Montpellier’s Andy Delort, Monaco and Leicester City loanee Islam Slimani as well as Mbaye Niang, Hamari Traore and Edouard Mendy all of Rennes, for the award.

He becomes the second Nigerian to win the prestigious accolade after ex-Nigeria goalkeeper Vincent Enyeama, who played for Lille between 2011 and 2018.

Arsenal’s Nicolas Pepe, who was also on the books of Lille, was the most recent recipient of the award.

Simon, on his path, was the standout player for Nantes, taking home the club’s player for the season award after having a hand in 17 goals (nine goals, eight assists) in 30 competitive outings.

He was also able to have a place in the Nantes Team of the Decade, having played just a season and less than 50 games with the others on the list playing more games and spending more years at the club.

Simon’s brilliance was able to earn him a permanent deal with Nantes having joined initially on loan from La Liga club Levante where he played 23 times and scored one goal and provided one assist.