The English Premier League is laden with stars from across the globe with almost all the nations having had a representative once in the league.
The latest country to have its first player in the English top flight is Uzbekistan, whose young centre-back, Abdulkodir Khuzanov, moved from French Ligue 1 side Lens to Manchester City in the 2025 January transfer window.
Europeans, South Americans and Africans have been dominating the EPL in recent years but Africa is having an incredible season ahead of the other two in the ongoing campaign.
The 2024-25 season could be the best season for Africa in the English top flight. Sitting on top of the league log comfortably is Liverpool and their best player has unquestionably been Mohammed Salah, who has scored a record 21 goals and provided 13 assists in only 23 matches. No footballer has been able to score 19 goals in week 23 of the EPL since its inception in 1991 except the Egyptian. His best scoring season was in 2017-18 when Salah scored 32 goals and provided 10 assists.
World-class forwards like Alan Shearer, Cristiano Ronaldo, Thierry Henry, Didier Drogba, Michael Owen, Wayne Rooney, Luis Suarez, and Van Persie have all made unforgettable names for themselves in EPL. Still, none was able to score 19 goals in 23 match rounds.
Many African footballers are putting up Grade A performances for their respective clubs with Burkinabe forward Dango Ouattara scoring a first Burkina Faso hattrick in the English Premier League when Bournemouth beat the much-improved Nottingham Forest 5-0 in round 23. His teammate Antoine Semenyo of Ghana was also on the score sheet scoring the 5th goal for the Cherries. The in-form Ghanaian forward has scored 7 goals and provided 3 assists. He is just a goal-shy to equal the eight he scored in the entire 2023-24 season. The two, alongside Justin Kluivert, lead Bournemouth’s unlikely charge for European football.
Bryan Mbeumo of Cameroon has found the back of the net fourteen times and assisted three times thus far for Brentford. His Congolese teammate Yoane Wissa has scored 11 goals and provided 2 assists making the duo one of the deadliest duos in the league.
Ghana’s Thomas Partey is the only African at Arsenal and he has proved to be an important player after playing 23 of the 24 league games so far for the Gunners. His versatility has made him one of Arteta’s favourites. He is someone who always fills the right-back position when the need arises. Partey scored an important goal in Arsenal’s 5-1 thrashing of Manchester City in week 24.
The struggling Manchester United sits in 13th position after so many disastrous performances. Andre Onana, Nousair Mazraoui and Amad Diallo are the African contingents in Amorim’s squad. Onana is the club’s number 1 goalkeeper amid struggles. Moroccan Mazroui is one of the best signings for the club in recent seasons even though he has been around for only 6 months. The right-back has been a very reliable defender since joining from Bayern Munich. Amad Diallo could be already the club’s best player after scoring the winning goal against rivals Manchester City. He equalized in the 2-2 draw against Liverpool and scored a superb hattrick against Southampton.
Nottingham Forest, until the 5-0 pulverizing at Bournemouth, had maybe the best defence in the league. Nigeria’s Ola Aina is enjoying a good season under Nuno Espirito Santo and you will not be wrong if you describe him as the best right back in England currently. Willy Boly and Taiwo Awoniyi are playing a bit-part role in Forest’s sudden rise. Ivorian midfielder Ibrahim Sangare returned in the club’s 7-0 dismantling of Brighton & Hove Albion after five months of absence due to a thigh injury. He replaced Elliot Anderson in the 82nd minute and assisted Neco Williams’ 89th-minute strike.
Nicolas Jackson of Chelsea has benched Nkunku and the Senegalese is Enzo Maresca’s first choice for the number 9 role. The only African in the Chelsea set-up, Jackson, per CIES Football Observatory, is the most valuable African Footballer currently. Jackson has scored 9 goals and provided 5 assists in the league. Jackson, since December 15th, has not scored for Chelsea, but he remains Maresca’s number 1 choice.
Senegal’s Iliman Ndiaye has scored six important goals for Everton helping the club to steer off the relegation danger. Teammates Idrissa Gueye (Senegal), Beto (Guinea Bissau) and Abdoulaye Doucoure (Mali) are all punching above their weight to help the Toffees survive. Beto, in week 24, scored twice in the 4-0 win over Leicester City.
21-year-old Cameroonian midfielder Carlos Baleba has been the cog in Brighton & Hove’s midfield after playing 20 games and scoring twice for the Seagulls. Highly rated young Gambian winger Yankuba Minteh has scored 3 goals and provided 2 assists in 19 appearances for Brighton. Ivorian forward Simon Adingra has also scored twice in 16 matches. Ghana’s Triq Lamptey has managed 10 appearances scoring twice and providing two assists.
Calvin Bassey and Alex Iwobi of Nigeria have played 22 and 23 games, respectively, for the London club. Iwobi has scored 7 goals and provided 3 assists for Fulham.
Ipswich Town is skippered by veteran Egyptian midfielder Samy Morsy, who has played 22 matches, scoring 1 goal and providing one assist. Congolese centre-back Axel Tuanzebe has played 11 matches for the struggling Ipswich Town.
Mario Lemina of Gabon was the number one midfielder on Wolverhampton Wanderers’ team sheet until he decided to not play for the club again after the 3-0 defeat at home to Nottingham Forest. He has joined Galatasaray after making 17 appearances for Wolves. 5 assists and 3 goals have been provided in 23 games by Algerian defender Ryan Ait Nouri. The Algerian left-back is a delight to watch and has thrived even in the relegation-threatened side. 27-year-old Ivorian defender Agbadou Emmanuel has shown so much promise after playing just four times for Wolves. He joined the club in the January transfer window from French Ligue 1 side Reims.
Nigerian duo Joe Aribo and Paul Onuachu and Ghanaian forward Kamaldeen Sulemana have all played their part in Southampton’s unbelievable struggles in the season. Aribo has played 23 games, scoring 3 goals; Onuachu has played 14 games and has scored two goals, while Sulemana, who had an excellent game at Old Trafford against Manchester United, has played just 12 games amidst a series of injuries.
Ruud Van Nistelrooy’s impossible task of preventing Leicester City from relegation cannot be complete without African players. Youngster Abdul Fatawu Issahaku was supposed to play a very key role in the club’s bid to survive but unluckily got injured and was ruled out for the rest of the season. Moroccan youngster El Khannouss Bilal was in incredible form when the Foxes won 2-1 at Tottenham Hotspurs. The Moroccan scored a wonderful goal which was eventually the winner. Ndidi, Daka, and Jordan Ayew have all been putting in wonderful performances anytime they get the opportunity to represent Leicester City. Jordan Ayew is the second-highest scorer alongside Buonanotte (4) in Leicester City after veteran Vardy.
At Tottenham Hotspurs, Malian midfielder Yves Bissouma and Senegalese young midfield sensation Sarr Pape Matar are Ange Postecoglu’s best choices in front of his back four. Sarr has played in every game thus far while Bissouma has made an incredible 18 appearances.
West Ham United has not witnessed Mohamed Kudus’ last season astonishing performances yet he remains a big part of their team. In a difficult season for the club, the Ghanaian forward has made 19 appearances scoring three goals and providing one assist.
Ismaila Sarr of Senegal has scored four goals for Crystal Palace in 24 matches. Malian midfielder Cheick Doucoure has suffered many injuries but has made 13 appearances for the Eagles. Veteran Ghanaian versatile footballer Jeffrey Schlupp played only a combined 104 minutes in 12 appearances before joining Scottish champions Celtic on loan. Moroccan centre-back Riad Chadi has played only once for Crystal Palace after a move from Real Betis in the 2024 summer transfer window.
Newcastle United, Aston Villa and Manchester City were the only three EPL clubs that had no African footballers in their squads at the beginning of the season. Manchester City recently added the red-hot Egyptian forward Omar Marmoush to their attack from Frankfurt, leaving Aston Villa and Newcastle United the only clubs without African footballers in the English topflight.
The top 10 scorers of the EPL have three Africans (Salah, Mbeumo and Wissa), with Salah leading. Mo Salah has provided 13 assists with Amad Diallo assisting 6 times.
Source: Amaky Ansah, GHANA
