Who are the most valuable African players of all-time? Liverpool duo lead the way

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The latest African Cup Of Nations gets underway in Ivory Coast this January, with plenty of Premier League clubs set to lose the services of some of their top stars for a month or so. Players like Mohamed Salah and André Onana could be set to miss up to seven games with their club sides if their nations are to go all the way to the final of the tournament.

Senegal won their first ever AFCON in the last tournament in 2021, beating seven time winners Egypt on penalties in the final in Cameroon. Some of the greatest talents across Europe at this moment in time come from African nations, and through the years players from that continent have lighten up our top leagues, but who are the most valuable African players of all-time?

The top 10 record market values for African players

All of the top 10 players with the highest ever market values on record from African nations are still playing - perhaps unsurprisingly given the huge inflation in transfer fees we have witnessed in recent years. However, only four of them are still plying their trade in Europe's top five leagues, and three of the players are now doing their work on the pitch in Saudi Arabia.

Number one on the list is Liverpool's Egyptian King Salah, who had a record market value of €150 million back in 2018, during the season in which he scored 32 goals in 36 games - a Premier league record at the time for goals scored in a 38 game season, which was subsequently beaten by Erling Haaland last season (36). Liverpool also made it to the Champions League final that year, with Salah scoring 10 goals on their route to the final, where one of the world's most valuable commodities was ultimately injured by Sergio Ramos, and Real Madrid were victorious.

In second place is Salah's old Liverpool team-mate and Senegal international Sadio Mané, who also boasted a market value of €150m in 2019, but was one year older than the Egyptian at that time. During that 2018/19 season, Mané was the joint top scorer in the Premier League, as Liverpool did taste Champions League glory, beating Tottenham 2-0 in the final. Third place goes to a player at the top of his game right now, but valued at his highest last year in 2023 - Napoli's Nigerian striker Victor Osimhen with a market value of €120m last June, after a season in which he scored 31 goals in 39 games for the Southern Italian club.

Fourth place goes to a player who has not fulfilled the high potential once placed on his shoulders. In 2019, Arsenal and Ivory coast winger Nicolas Pépé had a market value of €75m, aged 24, following his €80m move from Lille to the Emirates, where he, in the end, only scored 22 Premier League goals in 80 matches. Also valued at €75m, but aged 27 at the time, was Senegalese defender Kalidou Koulibaly back in 2019, during his prime spell at Napoli, in which he was one of the most feared centre-halves in world football. In sixth place is another former Gunner, in 28-year-old prolific goalscorer Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. The Gabonese striker received a market value of €75m back in 2018, after scoring 10 in 13 for Arsenal, following signing from Borussia Dortmund in the January of that year.

Record Market Values For African Players - All-time

10. Riyad Mahrez - Manchester City - 2018 - €60m

Age at the time: 27 - Updated Jan 10, 2023

1/10

9. Wilfried Ndidi - Leicester - 2021 - €60m

Age at the time: 25

2/10

8. Naby Keïta - RB Leipzig - 2018 - €65m

Age at the time: 23

3/10

7. Achraf Hakimi - PSG - 2021 - €70m

Age at the time: 22

4/10

6. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang - Arsenal - 2018 - €75m

Age at the time: 28

5/10

5. Kalidou Koulibaly - Napoli - 2019 - €75m

Age at the time: 27

6/10

4. Nicolas Pépé - Arsenal - 2019 - €75m

Age at the time: 24

7/10

3. Victor Osimhen - Napoli - 2023 - €120m

Age at the time: 24

8/10

2. Sadio Mané - Liverpool - 2019 - €150m

Age at the time: 27

9/10

1. Mohamed Salah - Liverpool - 2018 - €150m

Age at the time: 26

10/10

In seventh is PSG and Morocco right-back Achraf Hakimi, with a record market value of €70m back in 2021. The former Real Madrid man has already scored 13 goals from defence for PSG in two and half seasons. Eighth goes to Guinean midfielder Naby Keïta, who was valued at €65m in 2018, while at RB Leipzig before he moved to Liverpool the following summer. Finally, completing the list is Nigerian Wilfried Ndidi with a market value of €60m while at Leicester in 2021, aged 23 in ninth place, and Algerian winger Riyad Mahrez in tenth with a market value of €60m in 2018 at Manchester City, aged 27.