Aston Villa’s recent purchase of Tanzanian striker Mbwana Samatta from Genk really got me thinking about transfers of African strikers, particularly in the winter transfer window. So I did some research and compiled a list of permanent transfers English Premier League clubs conducted for African strikers. Some went really well. Others…not so much. Thus, I separated the transfers into three categories: The Terrible, The Decent, and The Phenomenal. 

 

The Terrible

Titi Camara (Guinea)

West Ham, December 2000-August 2001

Camara transferred from Liverpool to West Ham in December of 2000/01 season for about $4 million. The Guinean forward played six games in the Premier League with his new team for the remainder of the season, not scoring any goals nor did he provide any assists. He ended up not scoring for West Ham his entire time with the Hammers. He left on a free transfer.

Benjani Mwawurari (Zimbabwe)

Manchester City, January 2008-August 2010

Benjani moved from Portsmouth to Manchester City for about $6 million in the January window of the 2007/08 season.

He scored 3 goals and assisted one in 13 games from January to the end of the season. Before leaving Portsmouth, the 29-year-old had 12 goals in the Premier League, yet he couldn’t replicate that form with his new team. This was the period before City was purchased by the Abu Dhabi group so a lot of their purchases were less than $10 million and for players in their late 20’s and early 30’s. Some of those purchases worked out (i.e. the Brazilian Elano Blumer) but not Benjani. He left on a free transfer to Blackburn.

 

 

El-Hadji Diouf (Senegal)

Blackburn Rovers FC, January 2009-August 2011

Diouf transferred to Blackburn from Sunderland for about $3 million during the 2008/09 season. He scored 1 goal and assisted twice in the 14 games immediately following his transfer. In the 2009/10 season, he played 26 games, scoring 3 and assisting two goals. In the 2010/11 season, he was loaned to Rangers. He was released from Blackburn.

 

Benni McCarthy (South Africa)

West Ham, February 2010-April 2011

The Bafana Bafana star’s transfer for around $3 million from Blackburn to West Ham did not bode so well for him. He played five games in the remainder of the 2009/10 season and didn’t score or assist. As a matter of fact, he didn’t have a single goal contribution his entire EPL career with West Ham (total of 11 games). He was later released.

 

Wilfried Bony (Côte d’Ivoire)

Manchester City, January 2015-August 2017

For about $37 million, Manchester City signed Swansea City in-form striker Wilfried Bony in the middle of the 2014/15 season. He played 10 EPL games for the remainder of the season, scoring 2 goals and assisting one goal. In the 2015/16 season, he played 26 games, scoring 4 and assisting three in the EPL. He was later loaned to Stoke City for the 2016/17 season and sold back to Swansea for $15 million. Not a great spell for someone with the original $37 million price tag. 

 

Saido Berahino (Burundi)

Stoke City, January 2016-August 2019

Berahino made the move from West Bromwich Albion to Stoke City for about $16 million. The man from Burundi played 13 games to close out the season, but didn’t score any goals and did not provide any assists.

In the 2017/18 season, his woes continued and he had zero goals and registered only one assist in the Premier League and Stoke were relegated at the end of the season. He was a successful youth academy product at West Brom with so much promise, but the previous glory did not transfer to Stoke City.

 

 

 

Oumar Niasse (Senegal)

Everton FC, February 2016-present

Niasse left Russian side Lokomotiv Moscow to Everton for around $20 million on the last day of the winter window. He played five games in the remainder of the 2015/16 season but didn’t score or assist in any game. He didn’t feature in the Premier League during the first half of the 2016/17 season and was loaned out to Hull City in the January window of that season.

 

Rudy Gestede (Benin)

Middlesbrough, January 2017-present

Gestede signed from Aston Villa for $8 million. The Beninese forward only scored one goal in 16 Premier League games for the remainder of the season. As a result of poor goal scoring (Middlesbrough scored the least amount of goals in the 2016/17 season with 27), they were relegated to the Championship by the end of the season.

 

The Decent

Dame N’Doye (Senegal)

Hull City, February 2015-August 2015

The Senegalese striker left Lokomotiv Moscow to Hull City for about $5 million in February of the 2014/15 season). He scored 5 goals and assisted a goal in 15 games in the Premier League.

At the time of his arrival, Hull City was in 18th place, the last spot for relegation. His goals helped Hull get out of relegation from late February until early May. But not winning their last two games (against Spurs and Manchester United) ultimately got them relegated. N’Doye subsequently left Hull to Trabzonspor in a few months.

 

 

Benik Afobe (Democratic Republic of Congo)

AFC Bournemouth, January 2016-July 2018

The former Arsenal youngster made a permanent move from Championship side Wolves to the newly promoted team Bournemouth for about $15 million in the 2015/16 season. He scored 4 goals in 15 games in the Premier League, including scoring a goal in three straight games, as he helped Bournemouth survive their first season in the EPL.

 

The Phenomenal

Nwankwo Kanu (Nigeria)

Arsenal, January 1999-August 2004

The young Nigerian forward, part of the gold medal-winning Olympic team of 1996, left Inter for Arsenal for about $7 million. He played 12 games and scored 6 goals, assisting two. He went on to play for the Gunners until 2004 and won two Premier League titles.

Emmanuel Adebayor (Togo)

Arsenal, January 2006-August 2009

The Togolese forward left Ligue 1 side AS Monaco to Arsenal for $11 million. As a 20-year-old, he scored 4 goals and assisted four in 13 games for the remainder of the 2005/06 season. Two seasons later, he scored 24 goals in the league, the second-top scorer in the league (only to Cristiano Ronaldo). Following the 2008/09 season, the Togolese forward made the move to Manchester City for $33 million. Great profit for the Gunners.

Demba Ba

West Ham, January 2011-July 2011; Chelsea, January 2013-July 2014

This was a bargain, as he only cost West Ham $912,000 from TSG Hoffenheim to West Ham. He moved again in the January window to Chelsea from Newcastle for about $10 million in the 2012/13 season. In the last few months of the 2010/11 season with West Ham, Ba scored 7 goals in 12 games. His performances with West Ham saw him move to Newcastle, where he scored 16 goals and assisted four in his first full season in the Premier League. With Chelsea, immediately after his January 2013 move, he scored 2 goals and assisted one in 14 games in the Premier League. He definitely performed better than what he was valued by Hoffenheim.

 

Papiss Cissé (Senegal)

Newcastle United, January 2012-July 2016

The Senegalese striker left the Bundesliga team SC Freiburg for Newcastle for $14 million. He scored an amazing 13 goals and assisting two in 14 Premier League games.

I honestly think Cissé “stole” those goals from Demba Ba because when Cissé arrived, Ba I believe only scored one goal when he already had 15 league goals. With Cissé’s goals, Newcastle finished the season in fifth place, their highest finish since 2004. This was one of the most successful January buys of an African striker in the Premier League.

 

I want Samatta to do well with Aston Villa. I sure hope he hits the ground running in the Premier League and helps Villa survive relegation. I think 5-7 goals in the Premier League for Samatta between now and the end of the season will be considered a successful spell for the Tanzanian striker.