Top 5 African imports in Premier League history

#1. Didier Drogba

Drogba is the Premier League's highest-scoring African player ever

Even Chelsea’s most ardent haters will agree that Didier Drogba is the Premier League’s greatest African import. The Ivorian striker, in his nine seasons with Chelsea, scored a mammoth 104 goals for the club in just the English top-flight.

He lifted four Premier League trophies in that time and also went onto score the equaliser in the dying minutes of the 2011/12 Champions League final before slotting in the winning penalty.

Drogba holds multiple achievements for his exploits in the Premier League, including the record for the most number of goals and assists in the division by an African player.

He is also Chelsea’s highest-scoring player from the continent and second-highest overall, only behind Frank Lampard. He is only one of six players to score hat-tricks in consecutive games and the list can go on and on.

Drogba was a prolific goalscorer because of his brilliant finishing, aerial expertise and incredible movement behind the opposition defences. He was a big-match player too, having netted a combined 39 goals versus the Premier League’s top-six in all competitions. Chelsea fans will also fondly remember his many cup final goals.

There is no doubt Drogba has had better strikers than him in the Premier League, but he is, without a shadow of a doubt, the English top-flight’s best African player Hever.