The English Premier League has released the official list of 25-player squads for the 2016/17 season. The BBC’s Stanley Kwenda looks at eight things about the African players in the Premier League.
Nine per cent
There are 45 African players plying their trade in the Premier League this season – the number remains unchanged from last season.
This is 9% of the total of 500 players.
None in Southampton
Only one team (Southampton) has no African players in its ranks following the departure of Victor Wanyama and Sadio Mane for Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool respectively.
Mane, who is currently on international duty for Senegal, has said that he does not feel any pressure being Africa’s most expensive footballer.
Team Senegal
Senegal has the largest contingent of players in the league, with nine, followed by Nigeria with 7 and Ivory Coast five players, Algeria has four while Ghana has three.
The country can almost make its own premier league team. It has a fine balance of wingers, strikers and defenders:
Cheikhou Kouyate (West Ham United)
Diafra Sakho (West Ham United)
Pape Souare (Crystal Palace)
Idrissa Gana (Everton)
Oumar Niasse (Everton)
Sadio Mane (Liverpool)
Mame Biram Diouf (Stoke City)
Papi Djilobodji (Sunderland)
Lamine Kone (Sunderland)
All they need is a goalkeeper.
- Victor Moses —– Chelsea
- Kelechi Iheanacho — Man city
- Odion Ighalo — Watford
- Mikel Obi —- Chelsea
- Alex Iwobi — Arsenal
- Ahmed Musa — Leicester City
- Isaac Success — Watford
No goalkeeper
Strangely, there is no African goalkeeper among the 45 African players in the premier league. Well, unless you want to count Steve Mandanda, the DR Congo-born Crystal Palace goalkeeper who plays his international football with France.
Leicester 5 – Sunderland 5
Premier League champions Leicester City and Sunderland have the highest African representation with five players each.
Everton, Watford and West Ham United follow closely with four players each
Sunderland has a rich African history. It has been home to some of Africa’s greatest footballers such as Cameroon’s Patrick Mboma, Ghana’s Asamoah Gyan and John Mensah, Zimbabwe’s Benjani Mwaruwari and Morocco Talal El Karkouri.
Last year Crystal Palace had the highest number of African players, with five in total but it has since gone down to three.
Two firsts
Equatorial Guinea and Libya have their first Premier League players this season in the form of Middlesbrough defender Emilio Nsue and Manchester United’s Sadik El Fitouri, respectively.
Costly defender
Ivory Coast Defender Eric Bailly is one of the highest profile African players to join the Premier League this season. His £30m ($40m) transfer fee ranks him among the most expensive defenders.