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10 Africans Player To Watch In The Premier League
These players are doing their African roots proud in the English Premier League.Victor Wanyama
Victor Wanyama is the new African kid on the block. The Kenya international
came of age during Celtic’s memorable run in the UEFA Champions League last term. Like a colossus, Wanyama
strode across the European pitches patrolling the Hoops midfield with authority.
There is tacit acceptance in the game that his Scottish football transfer record
move to Southampton is a temporary detour en route to a bigger club. He is that
good. Or he is? The season ahead will prove whether he is the real deal or
overhyped.John Obi Mikel
Is there a place in the Chelsea midfield for Obi Mikel or will Michael
Essien, who played under Jose Mourinho at Real Madrid last season, be preferred
to the Nigeria international? Mikel also faces competition from Ramires. The
Brazilian has a more robust engine, is a better box-to-box midfielder and scores
goals. Mikel is a competent midfield ‘destroyer’, but is less of a creative
influence. A move to Turkey has been mooted but for now he remains a Chelsea
player. Can we expect a John Obi Mikel reincarnation at the Bridge?Victor Moses
This could be Moses' breakthrough season at Stamford Bridge. Manager Jose Mourinho has been waxing
lyrical about the forward in pre-season. Moses has already staked a claim to a
starting berth with some encouraging displays on Chelsea’s tours. He is firmly
in Mourinho’s plans. The self-styled Happy One said: "Victor has been terrific,
working very hard. In his position, we have Eden Hazard, Kevin De Bruyne and
Andre Schurrle, and with Victor, we can change during a match and give new life
to the team."Wilfried Bony
Demba Ba
Oh, what we wouldn’t give for Demba Ba’s thoughts on Jose Mourinho's very
public pursuit of Wayne Rooney. Reports also claim the Special One wanted to
bring Didier Drogba back to Chelsea but was given short shrift. Ba looks the
most vulnerable of Chelsea's strikers at the moment. If the pre-season is a
window into the campaign ahead then Ba is on the periphery. The Senegal
international is lower down the pecking order behind Romelu Lukaku and Fernando
Torres, while the likes of Victor Moses and summer arrival Andre Schurrle can
also operate as strikers. Mourinho has already said he will rotate his players.
Ba will do well to grab his chance when he is picked.Papiss Cisse
Cisse's pre-season has been dominated by how he would not be seen dead
wearing Newcastle’s Wonga-sponsored shirt. The Senegal star argued that the
shirt affronted his Muslim beliefs. After the phony war with the club came the
inevitable truce and Cisse will after all wear a Wonga-sponsored shirt. There
are some among the Newcastle United faithful who will feel that the striker has
a lot to make amends for when the season gets underway.Peter Odemwingie
In limbo at the minute after that much publicised failed moved to QPR on
transfer deadline day in January. Can Odemwingie repair his fractious
relationship with West Brom or is that irretrievably damaged? Can the Nigeria
international play himself back into the Baggies’ first-team reckoning and
manager Steve Clarke’s good graces? On his day Odemwingie can be devastating.
Indeed, Harry Redknapp, never one for understatements, attributed Rangers'
relegation in part to his failure to sign Odemwingie.Sebastien Bassong
A cult hero at Carrow Road, captain of the Canaries and the club's reigning
Player or the Year. But for his influence Norwich might have been relegated long
before they avoided the drop right at the death. Having played for Newcastle and
Tottenham, the Cameroon international’s considerable Premier League experience
will be vital to Norwich’s bid to preserve their Premier League status again
this season.Adel Taarabt
Adel Taarabt is a maverick talent. On loan at Fulham from QPR he will be
playing under a manager (Martin Jol) who has expressed a willingness to tinker
his tactics to oblige the Morocco international’s maverick tendencies and
match-winning talents. As Fulham captain Brede Hangeland noted aptly, Taarabt’s
talent is 'unquestionable'. But does he have the consistency and work ethic to
match?Kagisho Dikgacoi
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