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The Premier League has been graced by a plethora of world-class African players over the years.
Because of the ongoing AFCON, top English top-flight clubs have been depleted by the unavailability of their African stars. Liverpool have suffered massively, as both their flying wingers - Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah - are currently busy at the AFCON.
Other stars like Riyad Mahrez and Edouard Mendy are also busy at the continental tournament.
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Salah, Mane and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang are previous winners of the Premier League Golden Boot award. All three jointly won the coveted honour in 2018-19, striking 22 times.
Aubameyang has had a dip in form since his Golden Boot-winning season, but Mane and Salah are still going strong. Meanwhile, Watford’s Emmanuel Dennis has been in tremendous form this campaign. On that note, here’s a look at the top five African players in the Premier League right now:
#5 Riyad Mahrez (three-time Premier League winner)
Riyad Mahrez is one of the most underrated players in the Premier League. The Manchester City winger has often slipped under the radar due to the plethora of stars in Pep Guardiola’s ranks. Nevertheless, Mahrez is adept in both scoring and assisting.
The Algerian wizard hasn’t played a massive role in City’s title charge this season. However, he has still managed six goals and record four assists in 16 appearances, half of them from the bench.
In 2021, Mahrez scored 21 goals and assisted 13 times for City across competitions. Although he wasn’t the team’s first-choice right-winger, he outscored and out-assisted his teammates during the year.
#4 Sadio Mane (2019-20 Premier League winner)
Sadio Mane scored 11 league goals last season, which is below par, going by his staggering standards. However, he has started the 2021-22 campaign well, having scored eight times already.
The Liverpool number 10 has drawn flak for his inconsistency. However, his output is still on par or better than many of his peers. This season, he has as many league goals as Cristiano Ronaldo, Heung-min Son and Michail Antonio, players who are having a great season.
Mane is a victim of his own success. During his Golden Boot-winning season, he raised the bar so high that anything below those numbers feel like a failure. Overall, the left winger remains one of the best forwards in the Premier League, and his numbers back up that perception.
#3 Emmanuel Dennis
Newly promoted Premier League club Watford signed Emmanuel Dennis from Club Brugge last summer. Many thought it was a risky acquisition, but Dennis has proved his doubters wrong, bagging eight league goals and five assists.
Despite being on fire in the Premier League, the 24-year-old didn’t receive a call-up for Nigeria’s AFCON squad. That is a win-win situation for Watford who are trying to stay afloat in the English top flight. If there is anyone who could help them stay up, it is the Nigerian striker.
While most of the names on this list are established players, Watford’s talisman is a new entrant. He is currently the second most prolific player in terms of goal contributions in the Premier League this season. He could soon attract bids from top clubs if he continues this run.
#2 Edouard Mendy
Another player who has burst onto the scene recently is Chelsea’s goalkeeper Edouard Mendy. He was a relatively unknown entity when the Blues signed him in 2020. However, Mendy has made people take notice with his imperious displays.
He kept nine clean sheets in the Blues’ triumphant Champions League-winning campaign last season. Five of them came in the knockout rounds.
In the ongoing Premier League campaign, he has made over 50 saves, registering a save percentage of 81. The African shot-stopper has kept eight clean sheets.
Mendy is spoken in the breath as the likes of Alisson and Ederson, a significant achievement, as he has only been at Chelsea for 18 months. The London club is missing him for the next few game weeks due to his involvement in AFCON.
#1 Mohamed Salah (2019-20 Premier League winner)
Mohamed Salah is not only the best African player, but easily the best in the Premier League right now. The Liverpool man has scored 16 league goals, and is making a mockery of the Golden Boot race.
Salah is also leading the playmaking charts with nine assists this season. He has blazed a trail this campaign. The right winger scored 37 goals across competitions for Liverpool in 2021.
This season, Salah (113) surpassed Didier Drogba (104) to become the all-time leading African goalscorer in the Premier League. Salah is arguably the best African player to have graced the English top flight, and the scary part is that he is far from done.
