Numerous African footballers have played for different teams in England but who amongst these players have scored the highest number of goals?
From George Weah to Mohamed Salah, there is a long list of some of the greatest African scorers who have played in the premier league over the years. More talent is continually being produced throughout the continent, and many more goal-setting machines will undoubtedly come.
Below are some of the highest African scorers in the premier league:
- Mohamed Salah (Egypt) – 126 goals
Mohamed Salah is the African with the most goals in Premier League history. The two-time Golden Boot winner has 126 goals in 207 games for Liverpool and Chelsea in his English career.
Salah returned to the Premier League with Liverpool in 2017 after a difficult first term with Chelsea between 2014 and 2016. Since then, he has established himself as a household name.
The international from Egypt is considered one of the top attackers in the world, and his record supports that claim. He has 107 goals and two Golden Boot victories in just 167 games. He was named Player of the Season in 2017–18, and in 2019–20, he assisted Liverpool in snapping a 30-year Premier League title drought.
With a hat-trick in Liverpool’s 5-0 victory against Manchester United in October 2021, Salah surpassed Ivorian icon Didier Drogba to become the top African scorer in the Premier League era.
2. Sadio Mané (Senegal) – 111 goals
From June 2014 to June 2022, Sadio Mane was a star in the Premier League. He formerly played for Southampton and Liverpool and recently signed on with Bayern Munich for a fresh challenge in Germany.
At Anfield, the 30-year-old upped his performance, winning praise from the greatest. In reality, he received Lionel Messi’s vote for FIFA World Player of the Year in 2019.
Mane even shared the Golden Boot in 2019 with Salah of the Reds and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang of Arsenal, and he took home his first Premier League crown in 2020.
3. Didier Drogba (Ivory Coast) – 104 goals
In 2004, Drogba was one of Jose Mourinho’s first signings as Chelsea manager. This Ivorian striker was an unknown talent from Marseille but soon proved to be a very important player for Chelsea between 2004-2012. Drogba became the very first African scorer to obtain a century of goals and also win two Golden Boot awards in 2006-07 and 2009-10. He also helped the blues win four Premier League titles
4. Emmanuel Adebayor (Togo) – 97 goals
Between 2006 and 2016, the 38-year-old played for four different Premier League teams.
At Arsenal, Adebayor established himself as a household figure and took over as the team’s star player when Thierry Henry left. Later, the striker had inconsistent runs with Manchester City and Tottenham. He made his final exit from England in 2016 after a brief stay at Crystal Palace.
5. Yakubu Aiyegbeni (Nigeria) – 95 goals
Yakubu played for four different teams in the Premier League, just like Adebayor. The Nigerian averaged 0.38 goals per game while scoring 95 goals in 295 games.
Yakubu, a former Blackburn player who last competed in the Premier League in 2012, ended his career in football in November 2017.
6. Riyad Mahrez (Algeria) – 78 goals
Mahrez became the winner of the Premier League and PFA Player of the Year awards at Leicester City during a four-year spell filled with silverware. Since then, he has achieved more success at Manchester City. At the Etihad, he won three more trophies and could win a few more in the next seasons.
7. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Gabon) – 69 goals
Aubameyang has quickly risen to the top of the list of African Premier League scoring.
When the former captain of Gabon switched from Borussia Dortmund to Arsenal in 2018, he sought to put himself to the test in England, and it’s safe to say he succeeded. Auba shared the Golden Boot award in 2019 with Salah and Mane after scoring 68 goals in just 128 games for the Emirates.
Aubameyang started his Premier League career in September 2022 by joining Chelsea for €12 million following a brief but productive stint at Barcelona.
8. Yaya Touré (Ivory Coast) – 62 goals
Between 2010 and 2018, the four-time African Footballer of the Year was a standout with Manchester City. He helped the team win the Premier League three times during that span and contributed numerous crucial goals, including the historic winner in the 2011 FA Cup final.
9. Nwankwo Kanu (Nigeria) – 54 goals
Kanu is a pure Premier League legend who played for Arsenal’s noteworthy “Invincibles,” who won the 2003–04 title without suffering a single loss during the entire season.
Prior to his 2012 retirement from the sport, the two-time Premier League champion also spent time with West Brom and Portsmouth.
