5 greatest African players in Premier League history

Bhargav
Didier Drogba and Mohamed Salah are amongst the greatest African players in Premier League history
Didier Drogba and Mohamed Salah are amongst the greatest African players in Premier League history

#3 Sadio Mane | Southampton, Liverpool

Sadio Mane has had a successful stint at Liverpool.
Sadio Mane has had a successful stint at Liverpool.

Sadio Mane forms one-third of one of the most successful triumvirates in Premier League history. The winger has had a hugely successful stint in the English top-flight, especially with his current club Liverpool.

Mane has been a consistent performer in the Premier League, tallying at least ten strikes in each of his seven previous campaigns in the campaign. Needless to say, he was a key player in Liverpool's triumphant 2019-20 campaign, scoring 18 times and assisting nine.

The Senegal international has had a good start to his 2021-22 campaign; he is already up to five goals for the season. His latest strike made him the third African player to score 100 goals in the Premier League.

Incredibly, none of Mane's 100 Premier League strikes have come from the spot, making him only the third player in league history to achieve the milestone.


#2 Mohamed Salah | Chelsea, Liverpool

Mohamed Salah has been a colossal player for Liverpool.
Mohamed Salah has been a colossal player for Liverpool.

Mohamed Salah is arguably one of the best players in the Premier League at the moment.

The prolific attacker has racked up a century of goals in the competition, scoring all but three of his strikes for Liverpool. He has scored at least 19 goals in the Premier League in each of his four full campaigns with the Reds.

Salah has been in sublime form this season. He started his campaign by becoming the first player to score in five consecutive Premier League opening-day games with a goal against Norwich City. With his seventh strike in the competition on Saturday against Watford, Salah (104) became the joint-most prolific African scorer in Premier League history.

Together with Roberto Firmino and Mane, the Egyptian winger forms one of the most devastating attacking troikas in English top-flight history.


#1 Didier Drogba | Chelsea

Didier Drogba is a Chelsea legend.
Didier Drogba is a Chelsea legend.

Didier Drogba is a bonafide Chelsea and Premier League legend. The former Cote d'Ivoire international was a quintessential goal poacher, scoring goals for fun during his nine-year stint with the Blues.

The 43-year-old, a four-time Premier League winner, scored 104 goals in the competition and also provided 64 assists. In his most prolific campaign in the Premier League in 2009-10, Drogba netted 29 times, helping Chelsea to their third league title in six years.

Drogba, a two-time Premier League Golden Boot winner, played his final season in the competition in 2014-15. He won his fourth Premier League title that campaign and is widely regarded as the greatest African footballer in the league's decorated history.


Honorable mentions: Bruce Grobbelaar (Liverpool), Lauren (Arsenal), Kolo Toure (Arsenal, Manchester City and Liverpool), John Obi Mikel (Chelsea)

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