In a three-part series, the biggest story lines to look forward to this season will be highlighted and this piece takes a special look at the main African characters (excluding Ghanaian players) in the league and what the 2023-2024 season holds for them. The first part focused on the biggest coaching storylines in the upcoming season. (Click highlighted text to read article)
A slew of top African players have exited the PL: Riyad Mahrez, Kalidou Koulibaly, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Wilfried Zaha and Naby Keita have left the league and at the time of writing, Ivorian Eric Bailly and Moroccan Hakim Ziyech are still with Manchester United and Chelsea respectively but are heavily linked to other clubs.
In the case of Ziyech, only a failed medical prevented him from sealing a lucrative move to Saudi Pro League side Al-Nassr.
On the flip side, there are several African players who have laced up their boots and ready to play ball in the PL this season. Such players head into the new season with varied expectations to live up to and some perceptions to knock away. Here are the three biggest African players’ storylines in the 2023-2024 EPL campaign:
Mohammed Salah’s return to the Goal scorer’s throne
In two straight seasons, Mo Salah has registered football’s version of a basketball double-double by registering double digits in scoring and assists. Scoring 19 goals and adding 11 assists in the league is nothing to sneeze at but Salah’s immediate past campaign felt like a letdown compared to the lofty standards he set in prior seasons.
In the 2020-2021 season, the Egyptian registered 22 goals and five assists and scored 23 goals with 14 assists in the 2021-2022 campaign. Salah’s ranked third in the PL in key passes and third in passes that created danger last season but as great as he is, even he couldn’t escape the ripple effects of a disappointing season by Liverpool.
The Reds’ weak midfield couldn’t support the backline that played high with fullbacks who played even higher up field and was constantly exposed. The Reds middle unit couldn’t operate at a top level to protect the goal and be productive upfront to support the attack.
While Liverpool’s attack boasts a ton of top young talents in Darwin Nunez and Cody Gakpo, the unit didn’t click until the latter part of the campaign where the trio combined for many of Liverpool’s goals in a late charge for a Champions League spot.
Injuries to fellow attackers Diogo Jota and Luis Diaz didn’t help either but things are looking up with Jota and Diaz fully recovered and scoring in preseason just as Nunez and Gakpo’s PL experience and continuous development is sure to come in handy.
Having a plethora of scoring options that double as willing decoy runners open up opposing backlines just enough for a quality finisher like Salah to exploit. In two straight seasons, Salah has missed out on the top goal scorer award but he is primed to add another golden boot award to his collection.
Andre Onana out to silence the doubters and haters
It’s never easy replacing a legend and a Manchester United legend at that but this is exactly what Cameroon’s Andre Onana is expected to do after effectively getting picked over David De Gea. The latter impressed to clinch the Golden Glove Award in the PL but Man United manager Erik ten Hag’s preference for a ball-playing goalkeeper meant De Gea was an odd fit in his system that heavily leaned into building attacks from the back line.
As impressive as De Gea was last season, committing howlers, conceding goals on the back of directly gifting the ball away and playing 18 faulty passes in the FA Cup losses sealed his fate out of Old Trafford.
Like the creative “Number 10”, goalkeepers who are shot stoppers but poor passers (line goal keepers) are like dinosaurs in the modern space of football that is seemingly following the path of Man City coach Pep Guardiola.
Minus his passing flaws, De Gea would still be a Man United player and even for all his flaws, De Gea was beloved and many didn’t want him gone for a guy who has his fair share of blunders with a very brash and brazen penchant to step several meters off his line. Conceding a long range lob against RC Lens in a friendly didn’t help the narrative against Onana’s high blood pressure-induced style.
To silence the doubts over his purchase and deepen the level of confidence in Ten Hag’s rebuild of Man United into a truly elite club, Onana needs to have a lengthy highlight reel of starting possessions that lead directly to goals while displaying cat-like reflexes to pull of spectacular saves.
Nicholas Jackson to end run of dreadful production from African forwards
Hakim Ziyech is effectively a non-entity at Chelsea while Ivorian David Fofana flamed out badly as did Aubameyang for the Blues. Since Didier Drogba, Stamford Bridge has become a graveyard for attackers from Africa. Christopher Nkunku is injured and is to miss at least eight weeks of action due to the knee injury he picked up in preseason.
While talks continue to sign Juventus forward Dusan Vlahovic effectively in a swap for want away striker Romelu Lukaku, it is possible Chelsea misses out on getting a marksman and would have to lean more on Senegal’s Nicholas Jackson.
The former Villarreal player is versatile enough to play across the entire front line but coming on the back off gross wastefulness in front of goal from the departed Kai Havertz and company last season, Chelsea needs an expert finisher.
Jackson isn’t that but what he is, is a speedy, creative and young forward who has room to grow into a Thierry Henry or to a lesser degree, Marcus Rashford. Heading into the new season minus a recognized striker, Jackson is expected to provide goals at a fairly efficient rate, provide assists and do well to end African forwards’ poor recent run in a Blues shirt.
