Michael Essien is expected to be one of three players that will head the list of five finalists for this year's African Footballer of the Year award when it is announced next week.

The Confederation of African Football said the nominees would be named in Lagos on Monday.

Essien helped Ghana to qualify for the World Cup finals for the first time this year. The defensive midfielder made a vital contribution with key goals in Ghana's successful march to a place at the 2006 tournament in Germany.

Essien was also pivotal to Olympique Lyon's retention of its French league crown and voted the Ligue 1's player of the year last season before moving to England in August.

Essien face strong opposition from Chelsea teammates Didier Drogba and reigning Footballer of the Year Samuel Eto'o, who is seeking to win it for a record-equaling third time.

Didier Drogba also has a strong claim to the title, since he also helped Ivory Coast to qualify for the World Cup finals for the first time this year, scoring nine goals in the process.

The Ivorian also featured in Chelsea's English Premier League-winning team and scored in its League Cup final success against Liverpool earlier in the year.

Eto'o is also strongly fancied for the award despite Cameroon's failure to reach the World Cup finals. He finished as top goal-scorer in the Spanish league and helped Barcelona to the title this year.

There is also expected to be a nomination for striker Emmanuel Adebayor, whose 10 goals for Togo made him the top African goal-scorer in the World Cup qualifying campaign.

The nominations have been made by the media and technical committees of the Confederation of African Football.

The coaches of the continent's 52 national teams will now be asked to vote from the list of five, although last year less than half the countries returned ballot forms.

The winner will be announced at the African football awards ceremony in Abuja, Nigeria on Jan. 9.