Inaki Williams voted African best player in La Liga

Black Stars forward Inaki Williams has been named the best African player in La Liga after the first round.

The Athletic Bilbao player saw off competition from fellow Black Stars teammate Joseph Aidoo who plies his trade for Celta Vigo and Morocco goalkeeper Yaccine Bono as well as Mozambican left-back Reinildo Mandava of Atletico Madrid.

Pathé Ciss (Rayo Vallecano), Nicolas Jackson (Villarreal CF), Youssouff Sabaly (Real Betis) and Djené Dakonam (Getafe CF) were all in contention for the award as well but the Spanish-born Ghanaian accumulated the most votes to win it.

Inaki Williams played in 18 of the 19 games and scored five goals with one assist for Athletic Bilbao who currently sit ninth on the league log.

“Inaki Williams has long established himself as a fantastic footballer whose name will forever be etched in the LaLiga history books and he is a popular and worthy winner of the LaLiga Santander Mid Season African MVP Award.

“The award is a tribute to the huge contribution made by so many world-class African players to LaLiga over the years and also an acknowledgement of the huge growth of LaLiga amongst Africa’s passionate football fans.

“We warmly congratulate Inaki for this award and thank everyone who participated in this popular competition,” said LaLiga’s The Southern Africa Managing Director of La Liga, Marcos Pelegrin.

The 28-year-old was an active member of Ghana’s squad that featured at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. He played in all three of Ghana’s matches at the tournament.