Top 10 African footballers of the past decade

4. Riyad Mahrez

Belgium v Algeria: Group H - 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil

When the lanky Algerian first heard of Leicester City, he presumed it was a rugby club! He moved to England from Le Havre and won the Championship a few months later and promotion to the Premier League. In his second season, he and his teammates pulled off the eighth wonder of the world when they won the league title and in the process, Riyad Mahrez became the first African player in history to win the PFA Player of the Year award.

He became the most expensive player in African and Manchester City history when the club forked out £60 million for his services in the summer of 2018. He won two league titles in succession, thus becoming the second African to win the title with two different clubs (after Kolo Toure) and the first African player to win the English domestic treble after City clinched the League Cup in the same season.

While he had the chance to play for France internationally, he chose to play for Algeria and was involved in the 2014 World Cup. He captained the team to glory in the 2019 edition of the African tourney and has scored 15 goals in 56 appearances for the Desert Foxes.

He was crowned African Footballer of the Year in 2016.