The English Premier League is a global phenomenon. The passion, followership, rivalries, and broadcast reach, have made it the darling of football fanatics across the globe, including investors who key into the business side of the game. Since the rebranding into the EPL in 1992, the league has witnessed an influx of top players from different continents, including some African stars who stamped their authority on the league and drove its popularity among football fans on the continent. Kunle Adewale ex-rays the contributions of African players to the success and popularity of the Premier League, with a special focus on the iconic XI of the lot
Picking the greatest African 11 to have graced the EPL will not be an easy task. As part of celebrations of EPL’s 30th anniversary, SpuperSport, the official EPL broadcast rights owner in Africa, asked the fans to vote for their EPL greatest African XI, out of a 30-man list comprising household names on the continent.
A roll-call of names such as -Didier Drogba, Yaya Toure, Mikel Obi, Austin Okocha, Mohammed Salah, Emmanuel Adebayor, Pierre Emerick Aubameyang, Yakubu Ayegbeni, Benni McCarthy, Lucas Radebe, Tony Yeboah, Michael Essien, El Hadji Diouf, Sadio Mane, Riyad Mahrez, Bruce Grobbelaar, leaves one spoilt for choice. Everyone on the list stamped their authority on the EPL at different intervals.
Though 1994 African Cup of Nations gold medalist, Efan Ekoku is the first Nigerian to ever grace the Premier League after starring for Norwich City in April 1993, it was not until the likes of Nwankwo Kanu, Celestine Babayoro and the likes were exported to the English top flight in the late ‘90s that Nigerians started following the English league religiously.
Since then, a lot of African players have made inroads into the Premiership and not only contributed to the league’s popularity and their club’s success but have also won individual accolades and prizes, from Player of the Season to Highest Goal Scorer Award not to talk of several Player and Goal of the Month laurels.
To buttress the importance of these African players to their clubs, some managers of these teams had gone as far as entrusting them with the club’s captain’s band. Sam Allardyce made Austin Okocha the captain of Bolton during the Nigerian’s time with the Trotters. Okocha mesmerised his opponents in the EPL and will always be remembered by the fans for his immaculate dribbling skills and beautiful goals.
Today, Salah is a cult hero at Anfield and he is now Liverpool’s sixth all-time highest goal scorer, ahead of club legends like Robbie Fowler, Kenny Daglish, and Michael Owen.
Salah has won a series of notable awards for his outstanding performance. They include the golden boot, thrice, the Player of the Season in the 2017/2018 season, the Premier League championship in the 2019/2020 season, and the Player of the Month award numerous times.
Yaya Toure was an integral part of the Manchester City revolution. At the peak of his prowess, he was unplayable in the EPL, scoring loads of spectacular goals in his role as a midfielder, with three EPL titles to his name.
The first three African winners of the Premier League were all Arsenal players, perhaps unsurprisingly considering Sir Alex Ferguson’s reservations about recruiting from the continent -with Lauren Etame Mayer and Kanu both clinching the crown in 2002 and 2004.
The former can be overlooked as one of the Premier League’s finest all-time right-backs, but he took to the role remarkably quickly after being converted from a more advanced role by Arsene Wenger and was a starting member of Arsenal’s fabled Invincibles.
Kanu played much more of a fringe role in the Gunners’ successes of 2002 and 2004 with attacking competition again fierce, although he was adored by the club’s fans and, in 2008, was voted 13th in a fans’ list of Arsenal’s finest players.
The Invincibles squad also boasted another African player, with Kolo Toure, sure to be remembered as one of Wenger’s greatest signings. The centre-back forged a commanding partnership with Sol Campbell during Arsenal’s unforgettable 2003-04 season, missing just one match as the Londoners romped to the title.
Toure went on to win the championship eight years later with Manchester City, becoming the first African player to win two Premier League titles with different clubs.
Quinton Fortune of South Africa and Manchester United was part of three title-winning sides with the Red Devils, although on each occasion he never played enough games to actually get a medal.
In the third of those successes in 2003, the club applied for special dispensation in order for the utility man to get the recognition that his seven years of service surely deserved.
Arguably no team in the history of English football has showcased African footballers as successfully as Chelsea, with Didier Drogba, Geremi Njitap, Michael Essien, Mikel Obi and Salomon Kalou all winning the title before Victor Moses became the continent’s 15th winner.
No African has been more successful in the top flight than Drogba, who not only scored the winning penalty as Chelsea clinched the Champions League in 2012, but who won four Premier League titles over a decade, returning to London to lift the trophy one final time in 2015.
Three of Africa’s Premier League winners-Daniel Amartey, Jeffrey Schlupp, and Mahrez, were unexpected champions in 2016, as part of Leicester City’s miraculous campaign under Claudio Ranieri.
The Algerian however was the stand-out performer of that success, claiming a swathe of individual awards after scoring 17 goals and contributing 11 assists.
With City’s incredible title win this season, Mahrez has now topped the chart for being the most decorated African player in the Premier League with five titles.
There is no doubt that the Premier League has been a platform for some of the best footballers from across the world to showcase their talent and make a name for themselves, and African players have made a huge impact on the league and have been some of the most exciting and talented players to grace the pitch.
Though the Premier League has witnessed many African stars taking the English top flight by storm in recent seasons, the likes of Salah, Mahrez, and Mane have taken Africa’s presence in the Premier League to another level. To date, there are 46 players registered under an African nation on the Premier League’s official site.
Several African players have produced several scintillating performances in the English Premier League, the big question is who are the best Africans to have graced the English top flight?
The answer to this question will be revealed on July 6, when the list of the Premier League African XI, as voted by the fans, will be unveiled at a Gala Nite in Lagos.
