Toure may win African award for fifth straight year

CAIRO, (Reuters) - Yaya Toure could continue his unprecedented domination of the African Footballer of the Year accolade after being named on Monday as one of three finalists for the 2015 award.

(Reuters)

Manchester City's midfield powerhouse will go up against Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Andre Ayew, the Confederation of African Football announced, as he bids to win the prize for a fifth successive year.

Last year Toure, who captained Ivory Coast to the African Nations Cup title in Equatorial Guinea in February, became the first player to win the Footballer of the Year award four times.

Toure has not played for his country since the Nations Cup but has shown signs of returning to his best after suffering a form dip with City.

Ayew was the leading figure for Ghana in Equatorial Guinea, where they finished runners-up after a penalty shootout, and also shone for Olympique de Marseille in the second half of last season before the forward joined English Premier League Swansea City.

Gabon striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who like Ayew is French-born, was nominated for his goalscoring exploits in the Bundesliga with Borussia Dortmund. The winner will be decided by a vote of national coaches and technical directors and announced at a gala ceremony in Nigeria on Jan. 7.

(Reporting by Mark Gleeson; Editing by Tony Jimenez; [e-mail]; [phone]; Reuters Messaging: Reuters Messaging: [e-mail])