It’s no news that Africa produces some of the best and most raw football talents. Sadio Mane and Mohammed Salah have been the biggest names in African football for the past few years following their success with Liverpool, and but for Karim Benzema’s incredible 2021/22 season with Madrid, Sadio Mane would have probably been crowned the best footballer in the world and won the 2022 Ballon D’Or. With this being said, let’s go through some of the best African talents playing European football.
Victor James Osimhen
What does Nigeria’s Victor Osimhen have in common with Mbappe, Haaland, Lewandowski, and Nkunku? They are all the leading scorers in the top 5 European leagues.
Osimhen has had a very impressive start to the season for Napoli. Currently Napoli are first in ‘Serie A’ and Osimhen’s many goals and assists has contributed to their massive success so far in the 2022/23 campaign.
Throughout the years, Nigeria has been known for producing top football talents such as Jay Jay Okocha, Mikel Obi, Nwankwo Kanu to name a few, so it’s no surprise that one of the world’s best strikers right now hails from Nigeria.
If Osimhen and Napoli continue on the form they are on right now, it is reasonable to argue that they could win the Serie A, Osimhen can finish the campaign with the golden boot, and they could seriously challenge in the Coppa Italia and UEFA champions league.
With the 2023 Africa cup of nations looming around the corner, Nigeria have a lot to look forward to with Osimhen as their tally man. Their first African cup of nations qualifier match is scheduled for march 2023 against Guinea-Bissau.
Sebastian Haller
Sebastian Haller’s story is a triumphant one, from scoring goals, to being diagnosed with cancer, to being back on the pitch 6 months after his diagnosis.
The Ivorian striker is known for his goal scoring ways. His popularity was mainly focused in the Bundesliga and Eredivisie where he has scored more than 80 goals for Dutch sides Utrecht and Ajax, and for German side Eintracht Frankfurt.
In 2019 his name was circulating the football world, and eventually he would be signed by the premier league side West Ham. His spell at West Ham only lasted 13 months, and the forward then went on to sign for Ajax where he was a lethal goal scoring machine.
In 2022 he joined Bundesliga giants Dortmund for 31 million euros. However, his start to Dortmund was cut short with his cancer diagnosis shortly after signing for the club. Fast forward 6 months, he made a remarkable return to the pitch for Dortmund in a club friendly against Dusseldorf in January 2023, and on his second friendly match against Basel where he scored a hatrick within 7 minutes.
With the departure of Haaland to Manchester city, Dortmund fans are excited to have Sebastien Haller back in their squad. They still have all to play for in the Bundesliga, and hopefully Haller will be the extra ingredient they need to challenge for the title.
Achraf Hakimi
As a team, Morocco were fantastic at the 2022 fifa world cup, and their manager Hoalid Regragui had the team well organized both defensively and offensively.
For anyone to stand out in an already outstanding team takes a lot of effort and brilliance, and that is just what Achraf Hakimi managed to do.
With no surprise to many who closely watch football, Achraf is now being seriously considered as one of the best fall backs in football. For PSG, he already has 3 goals and an assist, and for his country, he was one of the players that took the wheel on their journey to the world cup semi finals, helping them eliminate European giants Spain and Portugal along the way.
Hakimi’s contract with PSG is set to last until 2026 but already other clubs are hoping to cut his contract with PSG short. Real Madrid are apparently considering trying to bring back Hakimi, who started off his youth career with Madrid. Since leaving Madrid, Hakimi has really made a name for himself, and Madrid’s need to bolster their defense has their fans hoping that this idea of Hakimi returning to Santiago Bernabeu can materialize.
Their world cup success is really showing that African football is growing and headed in the right direction. Morocco’s manager Hoalid Regragui predicted that “within 15–20 years” an African nation can win the world cup. With the increase in the number of teams participating at the world cup from 2026 onwards , Africa will have 9 rather than 5 teams representing the continent, giving them more of a chance to showcase their talents and to hopefully lift the winning trophy up.
Vincent Aboubakar
Cameroon’s captain and leading scorer at the 2022 Fifa world cup — his performance at the 2022 world cup really shone a light on him.
His group stage goal against Serbia was one of the most talked about goals at the world cup. Aboubakar audaciously lobbed the Serbian keeper to put his side back in the thriller of a game that eventually ended 3–3. Aboubakar’s performance earned him a player of the match award.
Perhaps his ultimate highlight of the tournament was against Brazil in the group stage. The African underdogs stunned the world when they beat Brazil 1–0 in injury time. Aboubakar cleanly headered the ball into the net from a wide cross. He may have finished the match with a red card for taking his top off while celebrating, but for many he will be remembered as the man that silenced the tournament favorites, Brazil!
Following his strong performance at the fifa world cup, Aboubakar has been making many headlines, having been linked to various clubs around Europe, with rumors suggesting that Manchester United have been keeping an eye on him.
Teremas Moffi
Who comes to mind when we combine the words ‘ligue une’’ with ‘goals’? Mbappe!
While Mbappe is without a doubt the most popular player in Ligue 1, there is another young man who is making a name for himself, Nigeria’s Teremes Moffi.
Moffi’s team Club Lorient were promoted from Ligue 2 to Ligue 1 in 2020, and now in 2023 they are pushing for a Europa league spot with Moffi challenging the likes of Mbappe and Neymar Junior for the golden boot.
Many premier league sides are eyeing Moffi up, including Everton, Leicester city, and Bournemouth. West Ham United are reportedly in talks to offer a fee around £30 million for Moffi in the hopes of improving their low goal count. With Moffi’s recent good performances, his value will most likely keep increasing.
Nigeria really has a star in Moffi!
Sofyan Amrabat
Amrabat was another one of Morocco’s stars in their remarkable world cup campaign at the 2022 fifa world cup. Sofyan’s performances saw him named on the team of the tournament, and since then he has been on the radar of some of Europe’s biggest clubs.
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has shown great interest in Amrabat, and had talks with Amrabat’s agent in the hopes of signing Amrabat in the January 2023 transfer window to strengthen Liverpool’s aging midfield. The talks have seemed to have broken down and now Amrabat is linked to Atletico Madrid. However, Fiorentina are in no hurry to sell Amrabat — they are patiently waiting on the right fee before they will consider selling him.
Amrabat is a player who thrives under pressure, and he has proven this with his performances against the top 4 clubs in the series A; Napoli, Milan, Juventus and AC Milan. Some of his strengths include his stamina and ability to cover a lot of ground. If he improves on his switch of play and moving the ball quicker, he can definitely slot into a lot of big European clubs.
With only a few days until the January transfer window closes, it will be interesting to see where Amrabat will be by the end of the month.
Ademola Lookman
Lookman is another one of the super eagles’ shining stars. The Nigerian attacking player is turning heads in the Serie A for his outstanding performances for Atalanta. As of January 2023, the only man with more goals than Lookman is his compatriot Osimhen.
Atalanta are looking likely to finish in a champions league spot, and with Lookman’s performance so far this season, we can’t put it past them to challenge Napoli for the league title.
Atalanta’s Coach Gian Piero Gasperini has had a lot of positive things to say about Lookman, praising his recent performance against Salernitana, “Lookman Adapted Quickly To Our Attacking Style Of Play”.
Nigeria really have a team to keep an eye on, and hopefully they will bounce back from missing out on the 2022 fifa world cup. Lookman’s most recent goal for Nigeria came against Sao Tome and Principe in the AFCON qualifier group stage match where Nigeria won by a huge margin, 10–0.
Yassine Bounou
The man with the gloves who was instrumental to Morocco’s world cup success at the fifa 2022 world cup. He saved every single shot that came his way against Spain in the round of 16 and against Portugal in the quarter finals. Bounou also saved 2 penalties in the round of 16 penalty shootout, helping advance his team to the semi finals where they nobly lost against the then world champions France.
Bounou was born in Canada, but chose to represent his country of heritage Morocco where he moved to at the age of 3. Bounou is not the only Moroccan footballer who opted to represent an African nation. His team mates Achraf Hakimi and Hakim Ziyech both also chose to represent Morocco over their European countries of birth.
Bounou currently plays for Sevilla in the La Liga. Although Sevilla are struggling so far this year, last season was a good season for the team and Bounou. Sevilla finished 4th in the league table, and Bounou earned a few individual awards; Zamora award and the La Liga African MVP award.
It’s with no surprise that big clubs are eyeing Bounou. According to reports, Manchester city, Manchester united and Tottenham Hotspur all have a keen eye on the Moroccan shot stopper.
The Atlas lions have a strong team going into the AFCON with Bounou on their side. Hopefully Morocco can take their brilliant world cup performance into their next competitions.
