Riyad Mahrez made history on Monday as he was named the PFA Premier League Player of the Year.
The Algerian international (born in France, admittedly) became the first African to win the award in its 43-year history, with Europeans having shared the honour around for 41 of the previous 42 (Luis Suarez being the exception).
Mahrez has been phenomenal this season, to the point that many believe Leicester City would feel his loss far more keenly than if top scorer Jamie Vardy was to move on.
The only player in the top five for both goals and assists, not only has he put his club on the verge of a first league title, but he has also enjoyed a better campaign on a personal level than ever before.
Many African players have achieved just one of the two in the same season without managing both, but even those to thrive while delivering trophies to their respective clubs haven’t received PFA recognition.
We’ve picked out seven players, each from a different country, who hasn’t got the credit they deserve during their time in the English top-flight.
Emmanuel Adebayor (Togo – Arsenal, Manchester City, Tottenham Hotspur, Crystal Palace)
Other players who have suffered extended dips in form, like Michu and Fernando Torres, have received sympathy rather than disdain.
Other players would not have returned to the game after seeing friends shot dead en route to a football match, let alone return and score important goals at club level. It shouldn’t matter that they were fewer and further between when there were such extenuating circumstances at play.
Emmanuel Adebayor’s undoubted talent should have earned him some goodwill when the goals dried up. As should scoring 10 or more in five separate seasons. But while Dimitar Berbatov is praised as languid and nonchalant for his five double-figure campaigns, Adebayor is dismissed as lazy.
Yakubu Aiyegbeni (Nigeria – Portsmouth, Middlesbrough, Everton, Blackburn Rovers)
Considering the struggles endured by middling Premier League teams to find a reliable goalscorer, we really ought to have more appreciation for Yakubu’s efforts.
After snubbing relegation-threatened West Ham to earn promotion to the top flight with Portsmouth, the Nigerian international top-scored for his club in four of the next five seasons, hitting double figures for Pompey (13th and 16th) and Middlesbrough (14th and 12th) before firing Everton to 5th in his first season on Merseyside.
And what’s his reward? Jokes about his age and weight. Disappointing doesn’t even begin to cover it.
Marc-Vivien Foé (Cameroon – West Ham United, Manchester City)
Before his untimely death at the 2003 Confederations Cup, Foé was an understated genius on the pitch.
The Cameroonian midfielder arrived at West Ham in the same week as Paolo di Canio in January 1999, and while the Italian has gone down in club folklore, Foé also had a great impact in his time in England.
That season saw West Ham finish 5th – their highest position in the Premier League era – and they remained in the top half the following season, only to slip to 15th when the midfielder moved to Lyon. He helped newly-promoted Manchester City to another top-half finish in 2003, and could have achieved a lot more had he not been taken from us at the age of just 28.
Mustapha Hadji (Morocco – Coventry City, Aston Villa)
Before Mahrez became the poster-boy for North Africans in the Premier League, there was Moustapha Hadji.
Arriving in Coventry with compatriot Youssef Chippo in July 1999, the playmaker had already captured the attention of fans during the previous year’s World Cup, starring in Morocco’s demolition of Scotland.
Hadji wasn’t young when he moved to England, and extravagant tricks came as naturally to him as calm play to lead counter-attacks. Remind you of anyone?
Frédéric Kanouté (Mali – West Ham United, Tottenham Hotspur)
Were it not for a combination of injuries and bad luck, Kanouté could well have become one of the Premier League’s all-time great strikers.
A lethal finisher with elegant hold-up play, the Malian made a real impression at West Ham, scoring 25 times for the club before his 25th birthday, only for injury to strike in 2002/03.
The club were relegated that season and he remained quietly impressive with Tottenham, but it was at Sevilla where he really made his mark. Kanouté hit double figures in his first six seasons in Spain, topping 20 goals on four occasions, and forming part of the 2006 and 2007 UEFA Cup winning teams.
Lucas Radebe (South Africa – Leeds United)
It might not be on the same level as Leicester City winning the Premier League, but Leeds United’s run to the Champions League semi-finals was one of those ‘this is only happening once’ moments.
Not only did Lucas Radebe feature prominently in both group stages before suffering an injury which would keep him out for the entire 2001/02 season, but he one of the few constants in the years leading up to that run.
Leeds fans will forever remember the centre-back for a performance in goal against Manchester United, as well as defensive solidity in his usual position, but he never quite received the same adulation away from Elland Road.
Yaya Touré (Côte d’Ivoire – Manchester City)
Touré might be well-loved by Manchester City fans, but his treatment by neutrals and commentators on the game is emblematic of a wider problem affecting Africans (and especially West Africans) in the Premier League.
Upon arriving in England, the Ivorian was dismissed as “not a creative genius who will get backsides off seats but a defensive midfielder who stops players who can,” and even when he’d proved his worth in the attacking third he was described as a Patrick Vieira-type, more box-to-box energy than subtlety and creativity, as if people were wilfully ignoring the evidence in front of them.
This has meant the 32-year-old – who is, in truth, more Zidane than Vieira – has seen his ball-playing ability and knack for producing clutch goals overlooked and received criticism for defensive duties which often have not been his to neglect.
Many have clung to episodes of petulance (yes, the birthday cake episode) when they support an argument, while ignoring his human side – elements of which include his role as a UN goodwill ambassador and continuing to perform at the top level after the death of brother Ibrahim in 2014.
Such an exaggeration of faults and overlooking of qualities just shows how much higher the bar has been for African footballers in the Premier League.
While other players have been honoured for scoring hatfuls (Ruud van Nistelrooy), splitting the Manchester United vote (David Ginola) or convincing the PFA they should get a lifetime achievement award (Ryan Giggs), there’s no arguing Mahrez is wholly deserving of his prize.
The only question remaining is why no other African player has done it before.
