Out Of Africa: Serie A’s maturing relationship with its southern neighbour

Date: 14th April 2016 at 9:40am
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Marco Jackson takes a look at both the past and present of African players in Serie A and reveals the successes and failures.

AC Milan v Piacenza George Weah of AC Milan

By the end of the 2015/16 season, there will likely have been upwards of 40 African players deployed in Serie A. Some have barely featured, like Joel Obi at Torino. Others have moved on, like Gervinho from Roma. However, 40 is a significant figure, even if it is somewhat at odds with Serie A sentiment today compared to its past.

Gone are the days when a Liberian was the biggest star in the country. Gone too, the days when Italian based players featured in the African Player of the Year polls. Four such footballers emerged victorious during this time; George Weah, Nwankwo Kanu, Patrick M’Boma and Samuel Eto’o.

It would be overly simplistic to suggest that African players go to where they are paid best, but it is inarguable that over the last five years only three players who came in the top three in that award were not playing in either England or Germany at some point during the preceding year.

Serie A used to be somewhere where even the smaller clubs would be able to boast a player of Patrick Mboma’s repute; he split his victory year between Parma and Cagliari. That is no longer the case.

Smaller clubs are now stepping stones to greener pastures – a foothold in a respectable league for some, or a final destination for those who are not desirable by a club higher up the football food chain.

Udinese vs Parma X

Bologna are a prime example of this reality. In Godfred Donsah and Amadou Diawara, they have two young African players who have bright futures ahead of them. Adam Masina may be an ‘oriundi’, but his heritage is Moroccan.

Yet the Rossoblu also boast players whose careers have stagnated. Despite 45 appearances with AC Milan, Kevin Constant could not stick with the Rossoneri. And while it may be premature to write off Saphir Taider, the truth remains that it did not work out for him at Inter.

In some ways, African players are not necessarily the blue riband signings they once were. Milan will undoubtedly be cursing their decision to let Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang walk after he has exploded into life at Borussia Dortmund. Had the Gabonese remained at the San Siro and reached the high level to which he has found himself now, he could have perhaps laid claim to that accolade.

Instead, the Rossoneri recently re-acquired Kevin-Prince Boateng. He has not set pulses racing, nor did Adel Taraabt before him.

In similar fashion, only Kwadwo Asamoah and Mario Lemina have featured for Juventus this campaign and both have been bit-part players, racking up just 12 games between them.

Juventus FC v Empoli FC - Serie A

On the other hand, Napoli have used three Africans this season; Kalidou Koulibaly and Faouzi Ghoulam have been mainstays in their side, though Omar El Kaddouri is not first choice.

Moroccan El Kaddouri may yet go on to exemplify one of the few disadvantages to having too many African players in one’s squad. The Cup of Nations takes place every two seasons in the middle of the European season and can pry players away from their respective clubs for around a month.

When Cote d’Ivoire won the 2015 edition of the tournament, they did so with two Roma players; Gervinho and Seydou Doumbia. The two Ivorians were both forced to miss four games for their club. Although they helped their nation to an eventual triumph, Roma won just once in their absence.

Morocco were the first side to qualify for 2017 and, as such, El Kaddouri will almost certainly miss a portion of next season to compete. Napoli could cope with his absence.

However, should the different nations of Bologna’s cohort of Africans all make the finals, the Rossoblu could find themselves missing half a team for up to a month next season.

gakpe

It took Italian football a long time to embrace African players, and the likes of Abedi Pele and George Weah were undoubtedly trailblazers in this regard. Two of the continent’s best footballers, Pele and Weah helped to open people’s eyes to a whole talent pool that up to that point had been relatively untapped.

From Djamel Mesbah of Algeria to Serge Gakpe of Togo, African players are dotted round all corners of Serie A. This is no longer the case.

World football has progressed to a point where African players are now viewed as no different from those hailing from anywhere else. As the continent has struck out in global terms over the last 30 years it is not reflected in the number of players across Europe’s domestic leagues.

In that context, Serie A is just like every league in Europe. Whereas once African players were a novelty, they have become an unremarkably common feature.

By the very progress to that point, African players have arrived.

 

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