Pundit picks Salah and ex-Chelsea star as PL’s best-ever African players

Lewis Oldham
Liverpool star Mohamed Salah

Gabriel Agbonlahor has picked Mohamed Salah and former Chelsea striker Didier Drogba as the Premier League’s best-ever African players.

After an unsuccessful spell at Chelsea, Salah returned to the Premier League in 2017 as he joined Liverpool from Roma.

The forward has since established himself as one of the best footballers in the world.


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He has started the new season brilliantly as he has six goals and three assists from his seven league games.

Drogba meanwhile spent nine years at Chelsea. He reached 104 goals in the Premier League from his 254 appearances.

Agbonlahor has told talkSPORT that Salah is the best African player to ever feature in the Premier League and Drogba is just behind him:

“I think the top two is Mo Salah – he’s been outstanding in the Premier League – his goals, his performances.

“And then Drogba, he’d probably be second. Yaya Toure was amazing, but I think Drogba, given his legendary status and what he did for Chelsea, he’d be in the top two.

“I think you’ve got to look at his goal record for all the games he’s played, Salah, he’s better than Drogba.

“Everything goes through him, if you look at Liverpool now and you took him out of their team, I don’t think they’d finish in the top four, that’s how much of a difference he makes to their side.

“When he doesn’t play I don’t think Liverpool are the same side.

“Whereas Drogba, he still had a lot of goals coming from Lampard and other players in the team.

“If you look at Drogba’s goal record, it’s nowhere near what Salah’s is – and he’s playing as a winger, not a striker!

“So, I think Salah’s number one for me.”

Last week, Robbie Savage claimed that Salah is currently the best player in the world:

“Mo Salah is the best player in the world right now. Would I have him over, Messi and Ronaldo? Yes. Mbappe? Yes. Neymar? Yes.

“For me, right now, if you are picking the team in the forward area, Mo Salah would be the first choice. So I would say, right now, Mo Salah is the best player in the world in terms of creativity, assist.”