Sunday, September 04, 2016

The welcomed migrant workers

There are 46 African players plying their trade in the English Premier League (EPL) this season - that's an increase of one from last season.

This is around 9% of the total of 500 players.

Every club in the EPL has an African player.

Senegal has eight players in the league, followed by Ivory Coast with six, Nigeria with five, Algeria four while Ghana has three.

Equatorial Guinea and Libya have their first Premier League players this season in the form of Middlesbrough defender Emilio Nsue and Manchester United's Sadik El Fitouri, respectively.

Ivory Coast Defender Eric Bailly is one of the highest profile African players to join the Premier League this season. His £30m ($40m) transfer fee ranks him among the most expensive defenders.

Premier League champions Leicester City and Sunderland have the highest African representation with five players each. Everton, Watford and West Ham United follow closely with four players each.

Sunderland has a rich African history. It has been home to some of Africa's greatest footballers such as Cameroon's Patrick Mboma, Ghana's Asamoah Gyan and John Mensah, Zimbabwe's Benjani Mwaruwari and Morocco Talal El Karkouri.

Last year Crystal Palace had the highest number of African players, with five in total but it has since gone down to three.



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