5 Africans To Look Out For The Premier League This Season

At just 17, he made a fine first impression
with an assist for Phillippe Coutinho’s
opener against Queens Park Rangers at
the end of last season in his first ever
game for Liverpool.
He possess great pace, energy, can also
lay claim to a good first touch, slick
dribbling, and decent finish. All the
requisites for a Premier League winger.
Although he may not get to start games
for the Reds, expect to see the Nigerian
born winger coming on for some few
minutes in the second half as he
continues to grow.
The midfielder has been capped twice for
England at the Under-18 level, but is still
eligible to play for Nigeria at any level by
virtue of his Nigerian parents.
Aruna Kone Everton & the Cote D’Ivoire
Many eye brows were raised when new
everton manager Roberto Martinez signed
29 year old Aruna Kone for a reported fee
of 6million.
Arouna Kone was brought in to compete
with Nikica Jelavic and fellow African
Victor Anichebe for a starting role up
front. The edge he has over Jelavic and
Anichebe is that he can also play in a
wide position, and this might be the
option Martinez uses to get two of his
strikers into his team, but the Ivorian was
at his best for Wigan when played through
the middle and it would be surprising if
he did not play most of his football for
Everton in that role.
Kone, 29, scored 13 goals for Wigan last
season despite spending a month on duty
with the Ivory Coast at the Africa Cup of
Nations which is a very impressive record
for a club like everton who have lacked a
striker scoring double figures since
Yakubu departed
Wilfried Zaha: Manchester United & the
Cote D’Ivoire (England)
Few realised at the time, but Manchester
United’s acquisition of Crystal Palace
winger might prove to be Sir Alex
Ferguson’s final decisive purchase as Red
Devils boss.
At 20 years old, the winger is still perhaps
too raw to command a first-team spot
straightaway, but one of David Moyes’
key challenges—and surely key ambitions
—will be to polish the England
international into a top-class Premier
League competitor.
The youngster was one of the key factors
in Crystal Palace’s return to the top flight,
but at times last season it was clear that
he had outgrown the Championship. He
almost single-handedly won the playoff
semi-final for Palace and was a key
protagonist in the final victory over
Watford.
While this season may predominantly be
a question of acclimatisation, Zaha is
already more than capable of making an
impact in a substitute capacity.
Moyes will be hoping for much, much
more before too long.
Wilfried Bony: Swansea & the Cote
D’Ivoire
Having once been touted as the solution
to Chelsea’s striking inadequacies,
Swansea can be chuffed to have pulled
off a coup in acquiring the Ivorian.
Bony promises goals, and Swans fans
will be salivating at the thought of the
former Vitesse man linking up with last
season’s superstar Michu.
While the Spaniard took the EPL defences
apart in his first season across the
Channel, Bony was setting fire to the
Eredivisie; he top-scored with 31 goals as
he helped the Vitas qualify for the Europa
League.
Bony is one of several players who will
look to be headlining the post-Drogba era
for the Cote d’Ivoire national side. Along
with Seydou Doumbia and Lacina Traore,
the Elephants boast some of the most
devastating options on the continent.
Swansea fans are in for a treat.
Victor Wanyama: Southampton & Kenya
It is no surprise that Kenyan midfielder
Victor Wanyama has moved to a major
European league, but I imagine few
expected that Southampton would be
lucky enough to acquire his services.
Recall that the 21 year old came to lime
light after his impressive display against
Barcelona when Celtic shocked the
Catalan giants in the Champions League
The Saints have picked up a valuable
asset. The East African is a dynamic,
energetic central midfielder, he can tackle,
he can pass and he can also score goals,
as was evidenced during Celtic’s
magnificent run in the Champions League
last season.
As noted by the Independent, Wanyama
may have alerted the wider footballing
public during those contests with
Barcelona, but the truth is that he has
regularly been dominating in the “bread
and butter” contests of the Scottish
Premier League week in and week out.
Certainly the EPL will be a step up, but
expect Wanyama to make the grade next
term. Look forward to the Kenyan forging
a dynamic and effective partnership with
Morgan Schneiderlin in the heart of Saints
midfield.
I’m sure you enjoyed this article, if you
did, feel free to drop a comment! Who will
make the biggest impression?