Ranking the 5 best African players in 2021
Gone are the days when only players from a specific region or nation used to dominate the game of football. Players from all around the world are evolving and proving to get better as the game progresses globally.
European footballers seem to have lost the dominance they once had. In fact, one of the best players in the world, Lionel Messi, is a South American.
In the 21st century, players from Africa have grown into some really good players. The likes of Didier Drogba, Yaya Toure, Samuel Eto'o and many others have made it large in their footballing careers.
Currently, some of the finest footballers come from the continent of Africa and have done quite well in 2021. On that note, let's take a look at the top African players in this calendar year.
#5 Achraf Hakimi (Paris Saint-Germain and Morocco)
The former Real Madrid defender has had quite the career so far, having already played in Spain, Germany, Italy and now in France. Achraf Hakimi is an adventurous right-back, always with a tendency to attack.
The Moroccan defender can also play as a wing-back and was widely used in that position during his time at Inter Milan last season. Courtesy of that, he was allowed a lot of freedom to go forward and was highly effective in attack. Hakimi had seven goals and eight assists to his name in the 2020-21 season when Inter won the Serie A title after 10 long years.
Achraf Hakimi in Serie A last season:
37 games
7 goals
8 assists
1 Scudetto 🏆 https://t.co/92SMdlIk8Z
The 23-year-old joined Paris Saint-Germain in the summer transfer window and has been decent for them. Achraf Hakimi has been superb in 2021 and thoroughly deserves to be on this list of top African footballers.
#4 Sebastien Haller (Ajax and Ivory Coast)
Many were surprised by Ajax's decision to sign Sebastien Haller in the winter transfer window, especially when he wasn't performing that great with West Ham United. The Ivorian didn't take much time to prove his critics wrong, though. He scored 11 league goals and recorded five assists in 19 matches for the Dutch club for the remainder of the season.
Sebastien Haller continued his impressive form in the 2021-22 campaign and has gone on to improve it to a significant level. In just 17 league games this season, he has scored 12 goals and provided four assists. In the group stages of the UEFA Champions League, he has already scored 10 goals making him the leading goal-scorer in the tournament.
Haller's incredible performances for Ajax in the Champions League helped them win all their group games, becoming one of only 10 teams to do so.
Sebastian Haller in his first full calendar year for Ajax :
👕 47 appearances
🌟 48 G/A
⚽ 35 goals
🅰️ 13 assists
🥇 2021-22 UCL Group Stage top scorer (10 goals)
🏆 2 trophies
The Ivorian striker has looked deadly in front of goal this season under the management of Erik Ten Hag. Haller will play a vital role in how far Ajax can go in the Champions League in the 2021-22 season.