Top 5 African goal scorers in the Bundesliga
There have been plenty of distinguished African imports to the Bundesliga, and some of them have even attained cult status at their clubs.
Despite their focus on promoting young German talent, Bundesliga clubs did not shy away from providing talented African players with opportunities in the 1990s, and continue to do so even now.
On that note, let’s take a look at the top five African goal scorers in the Bundesliga:
#5 Bachirou Salou – 51 goals
Bachirou Salou is a proper Bundesliga veteran, having played over 250 games for five clubs in the German top flight. He scored a combined 51 goals for Borussia Monchengladbach, Duisburg, Borussia Dortmund, Eintracht Frankfurt, and Hansa Rostock.
A strong and agile centre-forward, Salou was a big presence in the box. Despite his build, though, he was much more than just a hold up player as he liked playing off the shoulders of defences to use his pace to good effect.
After working his way up to the Bundesliga through the second division, Salou found some success with Monchengladbach, as he helped them to the German Cup or the DFB Pokal in 1995.
Salou also did well for Togo national team, scoring 17 times in 39 games. He is currently in the list of the top five goal scorers for his country.
#4 Souleyman Sane – 51 goals
Father of Bayern Munich star Leroy Sane, Souleyman Sane made his Bundesliga bow at Nuremburg. However, most of his goals came for Wattenscheid.
Like Bachirou Salou, Sane had to bide his time in the second division before making the jump to the top flight with Nuremburg in 1988. His record in the 2.Bundesliga was just brilliant and he mustered an incredible 56 goals in just three seasons.
Nuremburg took notice of the agile and smart finisher, and signed him on a free transfer. Sane lasted just two seasons at the club before moving to Wattenscheid, where he found more success in terms of goals scored.
Wattenscheid were not a big club nor did they have a lot of resources back then, but Sane’s 13 goals in the 1990-91 season helped them to an 11th-place finish. It remains their best ever finish in the German top flight.
Sane featured 174 times in the German top flight and score 51 goals in the process. His son Leroy Sane will hope to perhaps match or break that record some day.