FEATURE: Top 5 African Premier League players

Published on: 31 December 2013
FEATURE: Top 5 African Premier League players
Ghana's Tony Yeboah

Check out a compiled a list of the five best African players to play in the Premier League.

Tony Yeboah (Leeds United 1995-1997)

Yeboah, considered one of the most prominent and prolific goalscorers in Ghanaian and African football history, lit up the Premier League during his two seasons at Elland Road.

He joined the club in 1995 from Eintracht Frankfurt in a £3.5 million deal and is still revered as a cult hero.

In his second season at United, he was voted Player of the Year – becoming the club’s first ever non-British Player of the Year.

He scored a total of 32 goals in 66 appearances – and won the 1995/96 Goal of the Season with a stunning long-range strike against Wimbledon.

Left in 1997 and returned to Germany, with Hamburg.

Didier Drogba (Chelsea, 2004-2012)

diddier

Not just one of the greatest African players to play in the Premier League, Drogba has rightfully earned his place among the greatest players ever to step foot in England’s top flight.

Quick, powerful and devastating in front of goal, Drogba joined Chelsea went on to hit 100 goals in 226 appearances and filled up his trophy cabinet along the way.

A key part of every victory, the Blues legend won three Premier League titles, four FA Cups, two League Cups, two Community Shields and one Champions League.

He departed for Shanghai Shenhua in 2012, but did so having scored the winning penalty on the club’s night of European glory against Bayern Munich.

Michael Essien (Chelsea 2005 - )

Essien fresher

Having impressed at Lyon, the Blues splashed £24.4 million on the Ghanaian in 2005.

He instantly cemented himself as a key part of Jose Mourinho’s side and became a terrace favourite for his undying stamina and tenacious tackling.

He was nominated for the 2006 Fifa World Player of the Year and placed 22nd, and has won no fewer than nine trophies at the club.

Two of those trophies have been the Premier League, while he has also won four FA Cups, one League Cup, one Community Shield and one Champions League.

He was loaned to Real Madrid in 2012/13 but is now back at the Blues, and will be hoping to once again become a key part of Mourinho’s plans at Stamford Bridge.

Yaya Toure (Manchester City 2010 - )

Yaya Toure

The Ivorian man-mountain signed for the Citizens in a £24 million deal in 2010 and instantly became a key part of Roberto Mancini’s starting XI.

After an impressive debut season, in which City finished third and won the FA Cup, Toure kicked on in 2011/12 as Mancini’s men won the title.

The star made 43 appearances in the league-winning season – 32 of which came in the Premier League – and cemented himself as one of the finest players in England’s top flight.

Now under the management of Manuel Pellegrini, Toure remains an integral part of the City XI and will be hoping to add to his list of honours this term.

Jay Jay Okocha (Bolton Wanderers 2002-2006)

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So good they named him twice, the gifted Nigerian joined Bolton on a free transfer after leaving Paris Saint-Germain following the 2002 World Cup.

In his debut season, despite injury problems, he helped steer the club away from relegation with seven goals – including the team’s Goal of the Season in the vital win over West Ham United.

He was handed the captain’s armband the next season and, as skipper, led the club to their first cup final in nine years as they finished runners-up in the 2004 League Cup.

He joined Qatar SC in 2006 but returned to the England with Hull City in 07/08 and helped guide them to promotion.

However, he didn’t return to the Premier League, as he retired at the end of the season.

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