The Top Five African Players In The Premier League So Far This Season
As we reach the end of the first quarter of the 2024/2025 Premier League season we thought it would be a good opportunity to check-in on the progress of those players who represent African nations. Over 400 African players have made appearances in the Premier League in total and we’ll highlight some of those who have had the most impact so far this year.
Strikers are well represented on our list. Nicolas Jackson, of Senegal, has scored 6 goals so far in the league for Chelsea. Jackson’s prowess had been somewhat maligned after his $40M+ move from Villareal but 6 goals in 9 games is a very respectable return and is a big driver of Chelsea’s return to form and to the top 5.
Mo Salah, of Egypt, has also scored 6 goals so far this season and in this his eighth season at Liverpool his appetite for goals does not seem to have diminished. That said, Salah turns 33 at the end of the season and, with his contract running out, this could well be his last year at the club. A big money move to Saudi Arabia is rumoured which brings us, in a roundabout way, to Brentford.
England striker Ivan Toney cashed in his chips this summer leaving Brentford for a $50M contract in the Saudi Pro League. Two African players have stepped up to replace his goals at Brentford. Congolese international Yoane Wissa has 5 goals to his name while Cameroon striker Bryan Mbeumo has 8. Mbeumo’s record is particularly surprising given that he has scored, on average, 7 goals per season in the Premier League. He’s already past that with 3 quarters of the season to go and has only been outscored by Manchester City’s goal-robot Erling Haaland.
In defence Nigeria’s Ola Aina continues to be a rock-solid performer in Nottingham Forest’s surprisingly robust defence. Liverpool are the only team to have conceded fewer goals than Forest and Aina’s reliability and versatility at full-back (he has played both left and right flank equally well) is a major part of that success.
To round out our five with a goalkeeper it’s impossible to look beyond Andre Onana of Cameroon and Manchester United. It’s mostly impossible because with Édouard Mendy now also in the Saudi Pro League there’s no competition. But Onana has had an interesting season to say the least. Manchester United are struggling in the league and currently sit in 14th place. For a club with Manchester United-sized expectations this is bad news and has resulted in Erik Ten Hag becoming the season’s first managerial casualty. That said, Onana can’t really be held responsible for any of this. United have conceded 11 goals which is only 2 more than their neighbours Manchester City who sit at the top of the league. The problem has been scoring goals: City have scored 20 while United have 8. For context, you’ll note that means Bryan Mbeumo has scored as many goals as the entire Manchester United squad.
So to recap, we have some great performances from African players so far this season. We’re picking out Bryan Mbeumo, Nicolas Jackson, Mo Salah, Ola Aina, and Andre Onana as our top five. But there are plenty more players and plenty more games left in the season so we’ll check back in periodically to see how they are getting on.