En-Nesyri has been among the goals for Sevilla this season, scoring 13 times in 21 La Liga appearances and recording four strikes in the UEFA Champions League.
The 23-year-old Moroccan international’s La Liga haul includes hattricks against Real Sociedad and Cadiz last month, and he sits only behind Atletico Madrid’s Luis Suarez, who has 16 goals, in the race for the top scorer award.
Messi, who has won the award for the last four seasons, also has 13 goals.
Nonetheless, Kanoute is optimistic En-Nesyri can bag the honour if Sevilla maintain their impressive run of form.
“Well, in the long run, we would see because obviously he did a fantastic job in the first half of the season and I would like to describe his performances as really complete,” Kanoute told Goal during a virtual La Liga chat with media on Thursday.
“He is not only scoring goals, I think what Sevilla value a lot is the work he is doing for the team; he can hold the ball up upfront, can also run in space and can create space for others.
“Recently, he has been scoring a lot of goals so that’s perfect for him right now but obviously, you still have the likes of Suarez who is still scoring a lot of goals and Messi.
“So, we will see at the end of the season, but I feel if Sevilla stays competitive in La Liga until the end, he has a good chance of winning the Pichichi trophy this year.”
En-Nesyri joined Julen Lopetegui’s side from Leganes just over a year ago and played an instrumental role in winning last season’s UEFA Europa League.
The one and only African to win the Pichichi award was Samuel Eto’o back in 2006 with 26 goals.
