Newcastle United legend Alan Shearer believes ex-Chelsea striker Didier Drogba, is the greatest African to have played in the Premier League.
The Ivorian spent nine years at the club in two different stints, guiding them to several major trophies. His initial stint was between 2004 and 2012, while his second was in the 2014/15 season.
Yaya Toure, Nwankwo Kanu, Emmanuel Adebayor, Jay-Jay Okocha and recently Liverpool duo Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane are some of the players who have excelled in the Premier League.
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For instance, Salah has been a hit at Liverpool since joining in 2017. Apart from scoring more than 150 goals for them, he has won the Premier League title, the Champions League and the Fifa Club World Cup.
However, Shearer still rates Drogba higher than the Egypt captain, "For me, it’s Drogba just for the fact that he has four Premier League titles, four FA cups, nine goals in nine cup finals, one Champions League title and 177 goals for Chelsea, that is for me," Shearer said as quoted by the London World.
Shearer's sentiments are the same as those expressed by Nigerian football icon Yakubu Ayegbeni in a previous interview when he was comparing Salah and Drogba.
The former Everton and Middlesbrough goal machine did not see the rationale for considering the 29-year-old as the best African to have graced the English top-flight – although the ‘Yak’ marveled at the ex-AS Roma star’s exploits in Jurgen Klopp’s squad so far.
"You cannot say Salah is the greatest African to play in the Premier League. Drogba was something special because he was scoring for fun," Ayegbeni told GOAL.
"However, you have to give Salah the credit for breaking the big legend’s record, which makes him one of the greatest Africans in the English top-flight, but for now, he is certainly not the greatest."