Colin Udoh, Special to ESPN 6y

Victor Moses and a year of garlands

Premier League title winner, FA Cup finalist, World Cup qualifier, BBC African Player of the Year nominee, CAF African Player of the Year finalist, and now KweséESPN's Sports Star of the Year. 2017 has been kind to Victor Moses.

KweséESPN ran a poll in December asking fans to vote for their favourite African sports star - athletes or players born on the continent, or representing the flag of an African nation.

In the end it came down to two football players, with Chelsea and Super Eagles star Moses (29%) just edging Liverpool's goal-machine, Egyptian Mohamed Salah (28%). Cameroonian basketball star Joel Embiid was a distant third with 9%.

It has been a most astonishing turnaround year for Moses; one in which he has emerged from the dark corner of the unwanted man to a shining light for club and country.

To be fair, Moses has always been a cornerstone of the Super Eagles ... when he was fit. He showed that in Nigeria's run to the Afcon title in 2013, but that was because the coaches then understood his value as an attacking force, and deployed him accordingly as a wide attacking player.

He also benefited from a partnership with then Chelsea teammate John Mikel Obi, who found a telepathic connection of sorts with the winger. And Moses delivered goals and assists.

With Chelsea, however, the situation was slightly more complicated. The Blues had an abundance of world-class wide talent, and the Nigerian struggled to impose his own unique set of skills to break through. The result was that succeeding Chelsea managers could not guarantee him consistent game-time, or any game-time at all.

Despite that, and perhaps in acknowledgement of his undoubted talent, the club were reluctant to cut him loose. Instead, he spent almost every year of his time since joining Chelsea at different Premier League clubs, be it West Ham, Liverpool or Stoke.

Antonio Conte's arrival in London changed all that. Returning to his parent club at the beginning of last season, Moses was given a chance to impress the manager in pre-season. And impress he did.

But it would not be the first time the Nigerian had worked his socks off ahead of a new season. The difference this time was that his particular skill-set dove-tailed perfectly into his new manager's preferred style of play. It was to be a fortuitous coming together of ability and tactics.

Conte tossed Moses in as a wingback, exploiting his high work-rate in defence, the lungs to bomb forward in attack, the discipline to hug the byline, and the skill to get past his man and pinch on when necessary.

It was a key part of the cocktail that won Chelsea the title and took them to the FA Cup Final, though that proved a rare blotch on his 2017 copybook when he was shown a red card.

That title-winning confidence showed in his appearances for Nigeria, where he took on players, opened up defences, and scored decisive goals as the Super Eagles made light work of what was expected to be CAF's 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifying 'Group of Death'.

With Moses in the side, the Super Eagles were almost guaranteed a win before they filed out. Without him, they look shorn of imagination. His confidence and penetration add a clinical, purposed edge to the Nigeria frontline, and his time as a wingback with Chelsea means he never shies away from tracking to help his fullback.

Such has been the phenomenal year that Moses has had that were it not for stratospheric performances by Salah, he most probably would have done a clean sweep of awards.

However, this one is just reward for a year in which Chelsea's forgotten stone has become the Blues and Nigeria's cornerstone.

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