By Rahman Osman
Follow on twitter @iamrahmanosman
Some of the most critical football pundits have admitted the English Premier League (EPL), is arguably the toughest league to play and succeed in. Somehow, some Ghanaians took up the challenge to play with and against some of the world’s talented footballers.
Before the 2015/2016 EPL started, a lot of Ghanaian followers of the game were skeptical about the chances of survival and successes for some of the Black Stars players, and so, we have been following them closely to monitor their performances so far.
Christian Atsu Twasam – 3/10
Nicknamed the ‘Ghana Messi’ he was on loan to Everton from Chelsea. He couldn’t have asked for a better time to begin his 2015 club stint returning to England as the MVP of AFCON 2015. His exploits at the AFCON didn’t have any effect on his club career as he made only 4 appearances for Roberto Martinez’s side in the 2nd round of the season, 2 in the Europa League and the other 2 in the EPL.
Chelsea were not happy with his development at Everton and moved him on to newly promoted AFC Bournemouth in the summer of 2015. His fortune at the Cherries has been worse than his stint at Everton making only 2 sub appearances in the League Cup.
Now injured, but one will be very kind to him to link his “no show” to his injury problems, as he wasn’t making even the match day squad for the Premier League when he was fit. Atsu had a successful 2015 at the national level but his performance at the club level was a sharp contrast.
Jordan Ayew – 5/10
The year 2015 was a very good year for Jordan Ayew, netting 14 times for his former club Lorient. The 2nd half of the season was when he literally exploded. Jordan did extremely well, especially against the traditional big French clubs, scoring against Lyon, Marseille and PSG and these were moments to savor on for the young Ghanaian forward. This earned him a dream move to the English Premier League, following in the footsteps of his elder brother Andre.
Jordan went to Aston Villa to fill in the big shoes of Christian Benteke who moved to Liverpool. Jordan’s time in England has not gone as planned, as his team is struggling to find their rhythm. This has affected his own performance with only three goals so far, compared to his brother’s 6 goals and the fact that Andre is even a midfielder.
The youngest son of Ghanaian football legend Abedi Pele, will hope for a better 2016. He had a very good first half of the year but his showing at Villa has reduced his ratings.
Abdul Baba Rahman – 6/10
The young and highly rated left back begun 2015 playing for Augsburg in Germany, putting up excellent performances week in week out in the Bundesliga which attracted caught the eyes of the fans and not surprisingly, the press.
SOme of Europe’s top teams suddenly turned their attention on him hoping to convince him to sign the dotted lines for them during the summer transfer window. His club was desperate to keep him for at least another season but Chelsea’s deep pocket, and the fact that Mourinho was is charge, was certainly a difficult attraction to ignore.
Dreams do come true as Baba Rahman found out in his football career. For a player who was playing in the 3rd division in Ghana to move to Chelsea in the space of three years was truly a special moment for the youngster. He will now be plying his trade in the most popular league in the universe.
While his move to defending English champions was viewed as a tricky move by some football analysts, others were of the view that he was equipped with the needed skills to succeed in a very demanding league, club and from a demanding coach like Mourinho.
Moving to Chelsea it took a while for him to make his first appearance and it was in the UEFA Champions League game against Israeli club Maccabi Tel Aviv that he did quite well. He has since gone on to make 9 appearances in all competitions, not bad for a young player in his first season at a club like Chelsea known for their lack of faith in young players.
His highest mark in 2015 is helping a small club like Augsburg to qualify for their first ever European competition. His lowest is his horror show against Shaqiri when Chelsea lost to Stoke City.
Jeffrey Schlupp – 8/10
You can’t talk about best Ghanaian players abroad without including Jeffrey Schlupp. The left sided player has been playing every week in the English top flight since January 1st 2015 when he scored against Liverpool to help Leicester defeat the English giant at Anfield. The young English born Ghana international puts in good shifts either as a left back or left winger.
A change in coach at Leicester in the summer hasaffected him positively as his side are now putting up a challenge not against relegation but to win the league title.
Leicester are top on the league and one can’t rule out Schlupp’s involvement either as a starter or a sub.
Over all the 22yrs old defender has played 34 games for Leicester in 2015 scoring 2 goals. Regardless of how you look at things 2015 has been Schlupp’s year.
Andre Ayew 8/10
One will not be wrong to name Andre Ayew the best Ghanaian performer in the 2015 calendar year, not only in England but Europe.
The Ghana number 10, begun club football in 2015 off a sorrowful time with Ghana at AFCON 2015 where he did everything but lift the trophy for his country.
On returning to his club side Olympic Marseille five days after the AFCON disappointment, he scored for Marseille in a 2-2 draw away to Reims.
Ayew took his AFCON form to his then Club side scoring 7 goals as a midfielder in the space of 3 months.
His lowest period was getting sent off against PSG in the Le Classique, making his team lose 3-2 to the French Champions.
In the summer of 2015 Ayew traded the French Ligue 1 for the English Premier League answering calls from home to move to the most watched league in Ghana.
His choice of club attracted mixed reactions among football fans in Ghana some calling it a good move with others preferring he had move to a bigger club than Swansea City.
The English media typical of them criticized his huge wages and number 10 shirt assigned to him because they knew little about the son of Ghana football maestro Abedi Pele.
Flash forward, Ayew answered his critics in his 1st ever game in the English top flight at no venue than the feared Stanford Bridge against last season’s champions Chelsea scoring a typical strikers goal to earn a draw for the South Welsh club.
He added to his ever growing image in England by scoring against Manchester United, he had a wonderful assist in that game too.
In his first month in England, he was awarded the best player for the month of August.
Though his club has lost form, leading to the sacking of coach Gary Monk, Andre Ayew is still doing well with 6 goals in 16 games for his club.
2015 has been a very good year for him at club level with top performance for both Olympic Marseille and Swansea City.
Though he failed to cup it with the BBC African Footballer Of the year, pundits have already tipped him to move to a bigger club come 2016.
2015 saw 3 Ghanaians move to the EPL, Andre Ayew has been very good but Baba Rahman and Jordan Ayew need to improve in 2016 lest, their time there will be short-lived.
Albert Adomah – 6/10
2015 started well for Adomah, helping his Championship Club Middlesbrough in their bid to qualify for the Premier League. He has had an performance, playing 22 games, scoring 2 to help place his club in the playoff zone.
Adomah’s highlight of the year 2015 came in the championship playoffs against Brantford when he provided the assist to create the 2nd goal and scored the 3rd in Middlesbrough’s 3-0 win.
Unfortunately they lost the final to Norwich. Failing to qualify to the EPL, the Ghanaian winger wanted a transfer to another club which led to a last minute problem with his club and subsequent suspension in the beginning of the 2015/16 season.
He has been able to sort out his problems with his manager and has since made 19 appearances in the Championship and FA Cup scoring 2 goals. In the calendar year 2015, the Middlesbrough midfielder has played 47 games, netting 7 goals and providing 6 assists.