Salah Snubbed As Okocha and Drogba Are Picked As EPL’s Best African Players

Salah Snubbed As Okocha and Drogba Are Picked As EPL’s Best African Players

Chukwu Ikechukwu
February 25, 2024 at 10:31 AM
In this article:
Mohamed Salah logo
M. Salah
Liverpool logoFEgypt logo
Didier Drogba logo
D. Drogba
-FIvory Coast logo
A. A. Okocha
--Nigeria logo
Yaya Touré logo
Y. Touré
Qingdao FC logoMIvory Coast logo
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ENG Premier League
England
  • Yakubu Aiyegbeni does not rate Mohamed Salah as a World Class player
  • Aiyegbeni removed Salah from his list of EPL’s best African players
  • Salah has scored more Premier League goals than Aiyegbeni

Former Nigeria striker Yakubu Aiyegbeni does not believe Mohamed Salah is a world-class striker despite the Egyptian forward’s exploits for Liverpool since his arrival in England.

The 31-year-old Reds talisman has been ranked behind Premier League icons like Didier Drogba, Jay-Jay Okocha, and Yaya Toure on the list of world-class African players to have featured in the EPL.

Mohamed Salah, Liverpool, Premier League, Didier Drogba
Mohamed Salah in action for Liverpool in a Premier League match against Brentford. Photo by Ryan Peirse.
Source: Getty Images

According to Complete Sports, Aiyegbeni also rated Emmanuel Adebayor, Nwankwo Kanu, and Sadio Mane higher than Salah as he insists the Egyptian is not skilful with the ball and scores lucky goals.

“Salah is not world-class in my opinion. He is not very skilful with the ball, and a significant portion of his goals are merely fortunate.
“The Premier League’s top African players include Okocha, Drogba, Kanu, Yaya Toure, Emmanuel Adebayor, and Sadio Mane.”

Salah has 154 goals in 252 games, surpassing Aiyegbeni, who is fifth among African footballers with the most Premier League goals.

Salah to miss EFL Cup final

Meanwhile, Salah has been predicted to miss the English Leagues Cup final for Liverpool when the Reds face off against arch-rivals Chelsea on Sunday, February 25, due to a reoccurring hamstring injury, Football Fancast reports.

The 31-year-old forward is expected to face a late fitness test from the medics before being given the all-clear to feature against the Blues, but it is expected Liverpool would not want to risk losing him for longer should the risk backfire.

Curtis Jones and Diogo Jota were both injured during last weekend's big victory at Brentford, while Salah - on his comeback - and Darwin Nunez also picked up issues and might all miss the EFL Cup final.

Liverpool gives update on Salah’s injury

Earlier, Sports Brief reported that Liverpool assistant manager Pep Lijnders disclosed on Friday that Salah will need a late fitness test to determine his availability for the final against Chelsea.

The 31-year-old Egyptian forward, who had only returned to full fitness after one month, suffered muscle fatigue and did not play in the Reds midweek win over Luton.

Liverpool, who are in contention for the Premier League title alongside Manchester City and Arsenal, will play Chelsea for their first title of the season.

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Chukwu Ikechukwu
Chukwu Ikechukwu Godwin is a journalist with over 9 years of experience in the Nigerian media industry. He has worked both in Radio (Today FM, Rhythm FM, Wish FM) and Television (Silverbird TV) as a Sports Analyst..