The hottest African goal scorers in Europe right now
The football leagues are now about a quarter into the 2021/2022 season and what is noticeable this season more than in a long time is how well African strikers are performing in Europe right now. We list here the hottest African strikers so far this season below.
Mohamed Salah, Egypt - Liverpool
The obvious choice on the list is of course the Egyptian Mohamed Salah. Salah is perhaps the hottest player in the whole world right now, especially with Liverpool's 5-0 humiliation of Manchester United the past weekend in fresh memory. He scored a hat trick in that match and thereby jumped up as sole top scorer leader in the Premier League. He has scored 10 goals so far, 3 more than second-placed Jamie Vardy.
But it is not only in the EPL that Salah excels, he is also second placed in the top scorer list in Champions League with his five goals there, only a goal behind our next name in this list.
Sébastien Haller, Ivory Coast - Ajax
Top scorer leader in the Champions League is Ajax Sébastien Haller, representing the Ivory Coast at national team level. Haller was born French and represented France throughout his youth, all the way up to U21 team where he scored 13 goals in 20 matches. However, at senior level he never got the chance to represent the French national team and therefore in 2020 chose to represent his mother's home country instead, the Ivory Coast.
As already mentioned, Haller is the number one top scorer in UCL with his 6 goals, and 4 of these he scored already in the first round when Ajax took a 5-1 win away against Sporting. But it is not only in the Champions League he delivers, in the Dutch Eredivisie he is also in the top among the scorers with 7 scored goals. The lead in Eredivisie is shared with Guus Til in Feyenoord though.
Karl Toko Ekambi, Cameroon - Lyon
Karl Toko Ekambi from Cameroon, playing in French Lyon, is another African player who is in the top of a top scorer list in Europe. In Ligue 1, Ekambi has "only" managed to score 2 goals so far, but in the Europa League he is doing better. In the Europa League he has already scored 5 goals in 3 matches, and the fact is that the following players in the top scorer list with 4 goals scored right now are another two Africans; the Zambian Patson Daka as well as our next name on the list, Victor Osimhen.
Victor Osimhen, Nigeria - Napoli
As mentioned, the Nigerian Victor Osimhen playing for Napoli is second in best goal scorer in the Europa League. But it is not only in the European games that Osimhen is going strong. In Serie A he has scored 5 goals and even though it only gives him a sixth place right now, his league goals shows a continuity in his scoring. The fact that he is also only 22 years old and looks to be getting stronger and stronger in his play makes him earn his spot in this list.
Paul Onuachu, Nigeria - Genk
Belgian Genk's Nigerian Paul Onuachu scored an impressive 33 goals in the Belgian Jupiler Pro League last season, and his 9 goals so far this season show that it was no coincidence. His nine goals give him only a split second place right now though as the Swiss Michael Frey in Royal Antwerp has scored an impressive 12 goals, but expect that Onuachu will challenge for the victory in the shooting league.
Samuel Adegbenro, Nigeria - IFK Norrköping
We also have space for a third Nigerian player in this list, Samuel Adegbenro playing for Swedish IFK Norrköping. Adegbenro has taken the Swedish top league Allsvenskan by storm in his first season there, after only being considered a promising striker for several years in Norway. In Allsvenskan, he has scored 14 goals this season, which gives him the top position among the top goal scorers, with a two-goal margin to Degerfors' Victor Edvardsen.
Kelvin Yeboah, Ghana - Sturm Graz
We end the list with Kelvin Yeboah from Ghana who plays in the Austrian Fußball-Bundesliga for the club Sturm Graz. Yeboah has scored 7 goals so far, which gives him a second place in the top scorer list. This guy is only 21 years old and one of the most promising African strikers, and we will most likely hear more about him in the coming years. It should be mentioned that even though he was born in Ghana, he grew up in Italy and has represented Italy at U21 level, so the future will show if he chooses to represent Ghana or Italy at senior level.
Author: Kano Kluckfors
Created: 28 October 2021
Last updated: 9 August 2024
Kano Kluckfors speaks Thai but now lives in Stockholm, Sweden. Kano knows most things about the sport of football and likes to write about it. The number one team is Arsenal, a passion founded during the years he lived in London.