Aiyegbeni snubs Okocha, Kanu on Premier League African Best Player of all-time

By Monsurah Olatunji

Former Everton forward, Yakubu Aiyegbeni has crowned Chelsea and Ivorian football legend Didier Drogba the greatest African footballer of all-time to have played in the Premier League.

The Premier League has witnessed some of the best players from the African continent which has always spark debate on who is the best African Premier League player of all-time.

With great players like Austin Jay-Jay Okocha, Kanu Nwankwo, Asamoah Gyan, Mikel Obi, Michael Essien, Emmanuel Adebayor, et.al, many claimed Mohammed Salah is the greatest African player to play in the Premier League.

Aiyegbeni who is a Premier League great in his own right, having played in the English top flight across multiple clubs and scored 95 goals, insisted that the throne only belong to Didier Drogba.

Drogba won four Premier League titles with Chelsea, four FA Cups, three League Cups and, in the most dramatic and glorious of circumstances, the Champions League.

He scored 104 goals in 254 league appearances, and was named Chelsea’s Player of the Year and Players’ Player of the Year and won the Premier League Golden Boot twice.

On the other hand, Mo Salah has scored 158 in 264 appearances in the English top flight so far. He has won the Premier League Golden Boot on three occasions, four-time Liverpool Players player of the Year, three-time PFA Fans’ Player of the Year, two-time FWA Footballer of the Year, two-time PFA Players’ Player of the Year, Premier League Player of the Season, Premier League Playmaker of the Season, among other individual accolades.

Known for his clinical finishing, dribbling and speed, he is regarded as one of the best players of his generation and among the greatest African players of all time, Salah has only won one Premier League title with Liverpool.

“You cannot say Salah is the greatest African to play in the Premier League. Drogba was something special because he was scoring for fun,” Ayegbeni told Goal.

“However, you have to give Salah the credit for breaking the big legend’s record, which makes him one of the greatest Africans in the English top-flight, but for now, he is certainly not the greatest.”