England Loving Africans

I did mention my intention to dive into African Nations Cup talk in my last post and something that really struck me as I started getting into that mode was the sheer number of African players playing in the English Premiership.

Sure, it’s no big deal these days to find three or four Africans featured in any Premiership game, but those of you who, like yours truly, have followed the English game for more than 20 years must just marvel at how common place the African player has become in England’s top division.

Actually, forget about African players, black players were still a novelty in England back in the late 70’s. You could count the number of black players in the top flight on the fingers of one hand back in the day. Heck, I can even name them – Laurie Cunningham, Cyrille Regis, Brendon Batson, Viv Anderson, Howard Gayle, Chris Houghton, Garth Brooks, Justin Fashanu…Okay, maybe a little more than five, but you get the picture.

Of course, these were the days when some yahoos subscribed to the insulting notion that “black players are lazy”. I can only imagine what they must have thought about African players. I can still recall watching the Tottenham Hotspurs of the day – circa. 1984 – and swelling with pride at the sight of John Chiedozie flying down the right wing, the first Nigerian player to make a mark in England, and the one black African face on display in the entire top division.

Ah, the good old days. Seems like a lifetime ago now, with Africans performing creditably week in and week out in the rough and tumble of the Premiership. Consider this: Of the 20 clubs in the Premiership this season, only one – champions Manchester United – have no African players on their books. Contrast that to 1979, when Justin Fashanu and Bruce Grobelaar were the only Africans in the top division - one, born and bred in England, the other, a white goalkeeper from Zimbabwe.

Indeed, some clubs today are so chockfull of African internationals, I wonder how they’ll cope when the Nations Cup Finals kick off in January. Take Portsmouth, with no less than six Africans - Kanu, Utaka, Muntari, Diop, Benjani, and Lauren. Newcastle have five – Martins, Abdou Faye, Beye, Babayaro and Geremi – while Everton have four – Pienaar, Yobo, Anichebe and Yakubu. Arsenal have only three Africans – Eboue. Toure and Adebayor – but a closer look at their other players betrays a strong African influence. Diaby, Diarra, Song, Traore and Sagna may all be French nationals, but – like Vieira before them - we all know where they “really” come from.

Chelsea were concerned enough to declare they wouldn’t be signing any African players this season. Of course, they already have fair number among their ranks. Essien, Mikel, Drogba and Kalou are all likely to be missing during the Nations Cup.

So why the sudden love for the African player? Well, the obvious answer would be that England as suddenly woken up to the wealth of talent that Africa has to offer. The performance of the first African faces in the Premiership certainly did a lot to recommend more of the same: the free-scoring Anthony Yeboah at Leeds in the mid-90s, South Africa’s impressive Lucas Radebe, also at Leeds in the late 90s and Kanu’s spectacular arrival at Arsenal in 1999.

Sure, there’s no doubting the skill level of the African player, but that’s only half the story. Let’s face it, South American countries Brazil and Argentina have a larger reputation for producing and exporting skilled players – check Italy and Spain – yet there are only a handful of them in the Premiership. Javier Mascherano (Liverpool) and Carlos Tevez (Man U) are the two Argentines of note in the Prem, while Brazil is represented by Gilberto Silva (Arsenal), Fabio Aurelio, Lucas Leiva (Liverpool) and Anderson (Man U). That’s it. By contrast, Real Madrid have four Argentines and three Brazilians while Barcelona have three Brazilians and two Argentines.

So, the other half to this allure for African players is surely economics. African players will cost you less than their South American counterparts – or even young Englishmen. Take Portsmouth’s purchase of John Utaka from French club Rennes. The Super Eagles striker – who played at the 2002 World Cup and the last two Nations Cup Finals, as well as impressing in four seasons in France – cost Pompey 7 million pounds. No small change, but Arsenal paid 5 million pounds for untried teenager Theo Walcott in 2006 and England fringe player Daren Bent joined Tottenham for 16.5 million pounds after just one season in the top flight. Trust me, English or South American player with Utaka’s pedigree would have cost at least twice as much. It’s an even better deal when players are shipped in straight from Africa, as Kolo Toure was when he arrived at Arsenal in 2001.

The increasing hue and cry for limits on foreign players in European leagues may yet stem this increasing African exodus to the Premiership although the likes of Arsene Wenger will be in vehement opposition. For now, English clubs can continue to get a bigger bang for their buck from African players and African fans have an even bigger reason to follow the Premiership. A win-win situation, don’t you think?