Most Valuable Forwards in 2021 Africa Cup of Nations

The new year began in the African continent with the joy of football as Cameroon were hosting the 33rd edition of the African Cup of Nations in several cities. Twenty-four different African countries competed this year in search of glory, and in the end, the Senegalese national team managed to clinch the title of 2021 African Cup of Nations, which was their first-ever title after they failed to win it in the 2019 edition of the tournament against Algeria.

This year, the African Cup of Nations had some exceptional strikers and forwards, with the majority of them playing their football in Europe at the highest possible level. In this article, we are going to take a look at some of the most valuable forwards and strikers who played for their national team in the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations.

Most valuable 2021 AFCON strikers

We had created this list of most valuable forwards in the 2021 African Cup of Nations and some of the most valuable African players by using the market values provided on the Transfermarkt website, which was last updated even before the tournament had begun, so the prices provided in this list are the players' market values during the 2021

.

Musa Barrow

Having a total market value of 20 million euros, Musa Barrow is the only Gambian player in this list of most valuable forwards in the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations. During the tournament, the young striker proved to be one of the best strikers as he managed to score two goals and provide two assists to his teammates during the group stage and round of 16. He was also one of the few players who did not miss a single minute of his team's matches in the competition.

Barrow used to play in The Gambia and was then scouted by Atalanta Bergamo, joining the youth academy in 2016. The striker was transferred to the first team by coach Gian Piero Gasperini in January 2018 and made his professional debut on 30 January 2018, losing 0-1 to Juventus in the Coppa Italia by a goal from Gonzalo Higuaín.

He followed up with his first goal in Serie A on 18 April 2018, when visiting Benevento. During the summer of 2018, Barrow extended his contract until mid-2023, and in January 2020, he was loaned to Bologna for a year and a half, with a mandatory purchase option of fourteen and a half million euros, which would be waived by mid-2021.

Barrow had his debut in the Gambia football team on 8 September 2018, playing in a 2019 African Cup of Nations qualifying match against Algeria. National coach Tom Saintfiet had Barrow start on the bench, and he was substituted for the Gambian goal scorer after sixty-six minutes. It was on 12 June 2019, during his fifth international appearance, that Barrow managed to score for the first time.

A friendly match was played against Morocco on that day, and after twenty-four minutes, the striker scored the only goal of the match. So far, Musa Barrow has played a total of 17 matches for the Gambian national team and scored two goals in doing so.

Kamaldeen Sulemana

Priced at 20 million euros, Kamaldeen Sulemana is the only Ghanaian player to appear in our list of most valuable forwards in the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations. After being called up to the Ghana national team for the 33rd edition of the African tournament, he proved to be one of the key players of his national team and played in all of their three group stage matches as a starter. However, with poor performances from the Ghana team, they were knocked out in the first round of the tournament.

Kamaldeen Sulemana, a native of Ghana, began his training at the Right to Dream Academy, a partner club of FC Nordsjaelland in Denmark. He subsequently joined the Danish club and signed his first professional contract on 15 February 2020 on his 18th birthday for a period of five years. His professional debut took place on 23 February 2020 in a Superliga match against SønderjyskE, which his team won by two goals to one.

His first professional goal was scored on 29 May 2020 against Silkeborg IF in the league. He started the game, which his team won by two goals to nil. His first appearances impressed many observers, including his coach Flemming Pedersen, who believed he had a great future ahead of him.

When Mohammed Kudus left for Ajax Amsterdam, Sulemana took over the No.10 shirt that his fellow countryman had been wearing at FC Nordsjaelland. He was considered one of the most promising young talents in the Superliga, appreciated for his technical ability, dribbling and speed, making him one of the most creative players in the league.

He was linked with several European clubs in the 2021 winter transfer window, most notably Ajax Amsterdam and Bayer Leverkusen. However, the player remained with Nordsjælland until the end of the season. He finally signed with the Stade Rennais club on 16 July 2021 until June 2026 for a fee of €15m.

Kamaldeen Sulemana was first called up to the Ghana national team in 2020. He earned his first cap against Mali. He entered the field in the 64th minute in place of Eugene Ansah in a match that Ghana lost 3-0. Sulemana was selected by coach Milovan Rajevac to play in the African Cup of Nations in December 2021.

Saïd Benrahma

The talented Algerian left-winger Saïd Benrahma has a place in our list of most valuable forwards in the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations with a market value of 25 million euros. Being one of the players invited by Djamel Belmadi to play in the 2021 African Cup of Nations, he made his debut in the tournament on 11 January 2022 in their first group stage match against

when he replaced Haris Belkebla in the 83rd minute. After sitting on the bench in the next match, he played 45 minutes in their last match in the tournament against Ivory Coast.

Saïd Benrahma started playing football in his native Algeria. Upon moving to France with his family when he was eleven, he went on to play for Balma SC and US Colomiers before moving to the south side of OGC Nice in July 2013. He played mainly in the reserves in his first season in 2013/14.

He was nominated for the matchday squad for the first time by head coach Claude Puel at the end of September. On 5 October (matchday 9), he debuted in the 1-0 away defeat to FC Toulouse in Ligue 1, being substituted for Jérémy Pied in the 75th minute of the match. In that 2013/14 season, he made four more short appearances. In the next two seasons playing for the club, he managed to establish himself as a rotation player.

In order to get more playing time, OGC Nice decided to loan him out to SCO Angers in 2016. This was followed by two more loan spells, this time at Gazelec FC Ajaccio and LB Châteauroux. He had his best season there, and his team succeeded in maintaining its position in January. He ended the season with a total of thirty-four games played, scoring twelve goals and providing five assists in all competitions.

He returned to Nice at the end of his loan at Châteauroux, and in July, he was transferred to English second division club Brentford. He was discovered by Brendan MacFarlane, the club's head of recruitment in France, who had already spotted Frenchman Neal Maupay. During his time at Brentford, he scored a total of 27 league goals in 83 matches. Benrahma was loaned out to London club West Ham United FC on 16 October 2020 on a one-year loan with a mandatory purchase option.

David Moyes started him in the Premier League on 31 October against league leaders Liverpool FC. He replaced Jarrod Bowen at the end of a 2-1 loss at Anfield. Benrahma was on the bench at the start of the next day's game but helped the Hammers to a 1-0 win over Fulham at the London Olympic Stadium with a stoppage-time assist for Tomáš Souček. West Ham exercised their €22 million option to buy Benrahma in January 2021, and he is now contracted to the club until 2026.

Benrahma is a dual national of Algeria and France, which meant he could have played for either national team. He was called up to the Algerian national team squad for the first time on 30 September 2015. His first appearance came in a 1-0 friendly win over Senegal on 13 October 2015, when he replaced Baghdad Bounedjah in the 70th minute of the match.

Ismaïla Sarr

The Senegalese footballer to have a place in this list of most valuable forwards in the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations is the young winger Ismaïla Sarr. Having previously played in the 2017 and 2019 African Cup of Nations, Sarr was to play his third AFCON. However, due to an injury, he had to sit out in the first four matches of Senegal. His first 2021 AFCON game was the quarterfinal match against Equatorial Guinea, in which he also scored his first goal. He played two more games before lifting the trophy at the final.

He began playing in his homeland, playing there until 2016. He moved to France in the summer of that year to Metz, which had just been promoted to Ligue 1. He debuted on 13 August on the first day of the league, which was a 3-2 home win over Lille in which he came on as a substitute in the 73rd minute. He scored his first goal on 8 February 2017, scoring the 1-0 goal in the 46th minute in the 2-1 home win over Dijon in Ligue 1.

He transferred permanently to Rennes in the summer of 2017, which caused a stir as the Senegalese favoured that club over Barcelona. He debuted with his new club on 5 August 2017, in a league match against Troyes. He netted his first goal the following 26 August against Toulouse.

In the next season, Sarr debuted in the Europa League on 20 September 2018 against Jablonec and at the same time found his first European goal. He scored his first goal in the French Cup on 6 January, against Brest. Sarr took part in the French Cup final on 28 April 2019, played and won against PSG: for the Senegalese; it was his first professional trophy.

Sarr joined Watford in August 2019 and signed until mid-2024. The club paid around €30,000,000 for him to Stade Rennais, which was a record for the English club at the time. Having also been a regular substitute at the start, he progressed to the starting line-up just before the winter break. On 30 November 2019, Sarr netted his first goal in the Premier League. At the time, he put Watford 0-1 up in a 2-1 lost match away at Southampton.

Sarr went on to make his debut in the Senegalese football team in September 2016, in a 2017 African Championship qualifier match against Namibia. He substituted for Keita Baldé Diao after 62 minutes in Senegal's first match at the tournament itself, against Tunisia. In the 2018 World Cup in Russia, Sarr represented Senegal. Following a 2-1 win over Poland, the West African squad drew 2-2 against Japan before suffering a 1-0 loss to group winner Colombia in the final match.

The team of national coach Aliou Cissé ended exactly equal in points and goals with number two Japan but had to go home nonetheless: The Senegal team became the first country to be knocked out under the Fair Play rules, as they received more yellow cards than Japan. In all three games, Sarr played from start to finish.

Sébastien Haller

With a total market value of 30 million euros, Sebastien Haller is amongst the most valuable forwards in the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations. While his market value was around 45 million euros while he had freshly joined West Ham, he is still one of the most valuable African players. In the 2021 African Cup of Nations, Haller was the key striker of his team, as he played in all of their four matches, with one goal and assist against Sierra Leone and Algeria, respectively.

Haller arrived in the French club Auxerre in 2012-2013 and made 50 appearances in three seasons in Ligue 2, scoring six goals. He transferred to Dutch club Utrecht in January 2015, initially on loan and then on a permanent deal that summer. Over 2.5 seasons in the Eredivisie, he made 82 appearances and scored 41 goals.

With 17 goals in 2015-2016, he was the best scorer in his team and the fifth-best scorer in the league. In the summer of 2017, Haller moved to German club Eintracht Frankfurt and won the German Cup in his first season. In two seasons, he played 60 Bundesliga matches and scored 24 goals. In the same season, he also played in ten Europa League matches, scoring five goals.

He joined West Ham United in the English Premier League in the summer of 2019. During the season, he played 32 Premier League matches, 24 of them in the starting line-up. With his seven league goals, he was the second-highest scorer for his team. He played 16 Premier League games the following season, scoring three goals, but transferred to Dutch club Ajax in January 2021. He played 19 games for the Eredivisie in the spring season, scoring 11 goals.

In the Dutch Cup quarterfinal against

, he scored twice as Ajax won 2-1. During the 2021-2022 season, he scored four goals in his first Champions League match against Sporting. He continued to score at a record pace in the following matches and became the first player to score nine goals in his first five Champions League games. He has played 51 matches for various French youth teams, scoring 25 goals. He switched to his mother's native Ivory Coast in 2020 and scored the match-winning goal on his debut against Madagascar.

Nicolas Pépé

The next Ivorian player and another player with a market value of 30 million euros just like his fellow countryman Haller, Nicolas Pepe, is another player in our list of most valuable forwards in the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations. During the tournament in Cameroon, he was one of the good players of his team, although Ivory Coast did not have a good campaign. In four matches played during the tournament, Nicolas Pepe scored two goals against Sierra Leone and Algeria and provided one assist in the latter match.

Born to parents from Côte d'Ivoire and brought up in France, Pépé was a player for Poitiers FC until 2013, when he transferred to the second-division club, SCO Angers. At first, he played for the reserve team and debuted for the first team on 21 November 2014 (matchday 15) in a 1-1 draw away against AC Ajaccio. At the end of the season, the club was promoted to Ligue 1.

Pépé was loaned to third division side US Orléans in the summer of 2015; for the central French side, he scored seven goals in 29 appearances, helping the club gain promotion to Ligue 2. Afterwards, he rejoined SCO Angers and finished twelfth in the 2016/17 Premier League season with the club. In the summer of 2017, he moved to OSC Lille and finished the 2017/18 season in 17th place with the northern French side.

On 1 August 2019, Pépé joined Arsenal; he became the most expensive footballer in the club's history. Lille was expected to earn £72 million sterling on the transfer, based on unofficial reports. In the Premier League, he played his first game on 11 August in a 0-1 away win against Newcastle, coming off the bench to replace Reiss Nelson in the 71st minute.

As mentioned above, his parents were from Ivory Coast, and it was this country that he chose to represent. He was given his first call-up to the national team in November 2016, but ended up spending the entire goalless draw of the 2018 World Cup qualifying match against Morocco on the substitutes' bench. His official debut was three days later, when he replaced Max Gradel in the 86th minute of a 0-0 draw in a friendly against France.

He was part of the 23-man squad called up by Michel Dussuyer for the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations in Gabon. At the event itself, however, he failed to play a single minute, while Ivory Coast crashed out in the group stage. Pépé scored his first goal for the national team on 24 March 2018. This was during a 2-2 draw in a friendly match against Togo. He scored another goal three days later, this time during a 2:1 win against Moldova.

Youssef En-Nesyri

The only Moroccan player in this list of most valuable forwards in the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations is Sevilla's top striker Youssef En-Nesyri who had a total market value of 40 million euros during the 2021 African Cup of Nations. Appearing in his third African Cup of Nations, he was a key part of the Moroccan national team in the tournament, and played in all of his team's matches. In their round of 16 win against Malawi, he scored a goal in the last moments of the first half.

Having started playing football in Morocco, he transferred to Spain, to Malaga, in the summer of 2015. He spent a year playing in the Juvenil A team, and later on, rather than moving to Atl. Malagueño, a subsidiary team playing in the Tercera, he was introduced to the first team by coach Juande Ramos, who debuted him on the second day of La Liga, on 26 August 2016, in the match against

, which ended in a 2-2 draw, and where he entered in the 77th minute.

He scored his first career goal on 20 September of the same year, in the home league match against Eibar, netting the 2-1 goal in the 76th that completed the comeback. After the relegation of the Andalusian club on 17 August 2018 he transferred to Leganés. He scored a hat-trick in the 3-0 win over Real Betis on 10 February 2019. During a year and a half, he collected a total of 53 appearances with the Pepineros jersey and scored 15 goals.

He moved to Sevilla on 16 January 2020 for 20 million euros, which was the amount of the release clause, and signed a contract until June 2025. The next 9 February, he scored his first goal in the Andalusian shirt, in their 2-1 away defeat against Celta Vigo. He scored a goal the following 20 February in the first leg of the Europa League round of 16 (his first in international cups) in the 1-1 away game against Romanian side CFR Cluj; that goal proved decisive in the return game, played 7 days later, which ended 0-0.

On 31 August 2016, he made his Morocco national team debut in the friendly match drawn 0-0 against Albania away in Shkodra, where he played as a starter and was on the pitch until he was substituted in the 92nd minute. He played his first official match on 4 September of the same year, in the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers, winning 2-0 at home in Rabat against São Tomé and Príncipe, and played the entire match.

He was called up for the African Cup of Nations in Gabon in 2017. He scored his first goal for the national team on 20 January 2017 in the second game of the African Cup of Nations group stage, against Togo in Oyem, Gabon, which they won 3-1. He was summoned for the 2018 World Cup, filling in for the injured Badr Benoun, and scored a goal in the North African team's draw against the top-seeded

(match which later ended 2-2).

Riyad Mahrez

The second Algerian player in this list of best players at AFCON 2022 and also one of the top 10 most expensive African footballers is Riyad Mahrez of Algeria, who currently has a market value of 40 million euros. Together with the Algerian national team, Mahrez had a competition to forget at the 2021 African Cup of Nations, as they were knocked out of the tournament early in the group stage. He played in all of the three group stage matches, but failed to help his team win a single match.

He signed a professional contract with Quimper in the summer of 2009, with whom he scored one goal in 27 games in the French amateur championship. In the 2010 summer, he was signed by the reserve team of Le Havre 2, which played in the French fourth division. He then joined the Le Havre 2 first team in Ligue 2, where he alternated between the first and second team over the years, making 67 appearances and scoring 10 goals in three seasons with Le Havre.

He signed a four-year deal with Leicester City in January 2014. He made his league debut against Middlesbrough the following 25 January. His first goal in a Foxes' shirt came in the 89th minute of a game against

. He completed the first half of the season with 3 goals in 19 games to win the 2013-14 Football League Championship. His Premier League debut was made on 16 August and exactly two months later, he netted his first goal in the top flight. His first season in the Premier League ended with 30 appearances and 4 goals.

He improved his performances in the second season in the Premier League, particularly his goalscoring ability, as a right-winger in Claudio Ranieri's 4-4-2. He was awarded the prestigious English League Footballer of the Year award on 24 April 2016, and became the first African and second non-European player (after Luis Suárez) to do so. That season on 2 May due to second-placed Tottenham's 2-2 draw against

, and following the Foxes' 1-1 draw against Manchester Utd the day before, he was crowned 2015-2016 English league champion with Leicester City.

He transferred to Manchester City on 10 July 2018 for a fee of around €68 million, which would make him the most expensive African footballer ever; he signed a five-year contract. The Algerian made his debut in a Citizens' shirt on 5 August in the 2018 Community Shield match, which was won 2-0 against Chelsea. On the following 22 September, he scored his first two goals in a Citizens shirt in the league, during the 5-0 away win against Cardiff City. He went on to win the 2018-2019 Premier League with Manchester City, which was his second career win.

Riyad announced in 2013 that he would like to represent

at the international level. He made his national team debut in the friendly against

on 31 May 2014. Subsequently, he was called up for the 2014 World Cup, and only played as a substitute in a group stage match against Belgium. He scored his first goal with the national team on 15 October 2014 on an assist from Islam Slimani in the 3-0 win over Malawi in the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers.

Wilfried Zaha

With a market value of 40 million euros, Wilfried Zaha proved to be one of the most valuable forwards in the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations. As a member of the Ivory Coast national team, he came to Cameroon with great hopes; however, their adventure ended in the round of 16 with a penalty shootout defeat against

. He played a total of four matches in the competition and gave an assist in their second group stage match against Sierra Leone.

A product of Crystal Palace's youth academy, Wilfried Zaha debuted for the first team in the 2009/10 Football League Championship on 27 March 2010 (2-1 home defeat to Cardiff City). During the season, his club had filed for bankruptcy and was consequently penalised with a ten-point deduction. Because of this penalty, the club was in danger of relegation but barely managed to stay in the league.

Zaha became a regular in the team coached by George Burley in the 2010/11 season (41 league games/1 goal), a position he maintained even after Burley's dismissal under his successor and former assistant coach Dougie Freedman. In the 2011/12 Football League Championship, the young winger again made 41 league appearances, increasing his tally to six goals. The 19-year-old Zaha was crowned the Football League's Young Player of the Year in March 2012. Following three years in the Football League Championship's relegation battle, Zaha and Crystal Palace were promoted to the Premier League in the 2012/13 season.

Zaha moved to Premier League side Manchester United on 25 January 2013 for a transfer fee of around £10 million. But he played out the season on loan at Crystal Palace. Having initially failed to establish himself, Zaha was sent out on loan to Cardiff City on 31 January 2014 until the end of the 2013/14 season.

In late August 2014, Zaha rejoined Crystal Palace on loan until the end of the 2014/15 season. At the beginning of February 2015, Zaha signed a contract at Crystal Palace until the summer of 2020, with a transfer fee reported to be in the region of at least £3 million. After his return, he quickly earned a regular place in London.

He made his first international appearance for the England senior team on 14 November 2012, after being substituted for Raheem Sterling in the 85th minute (4-2 defeat in

). The Ivorian Football Association announced in November 2016 that Zaha had requested a change of association with FIFA. His debut for the Ivory Coast national team came in the build-up to the 2017 African Cup of Nations - again against Sweden. A few days later, he scored his first international goal in another friendly match against Uganda. Zaha's first international goal came a few days later.

Sadio Mané

The second player in our list of most valuable forwards in 2021 Africa Cup of Nations and one of the best African footballers of his generation is Sadio Mane, who currently has a market value of 80 million euros. Sane was one of the key players of his team in the 2021 African Cup of Nations and went on to score three goals and provide two assists over the course of the competition.

With Senegal, Sané won the African Cup of Nations for the first time on 6 February 2021 by defeating Egypt. In the final, Mané failed to score a penalty kick in the seventh minute, but he scored the winning goal during the penalty shootout. He also was named best player of the tournament and as a result, topped the list of the top 10 best players in Africa 2021 and at the same time, helped Senegal rise in the list of African national teams rankings 2021.

In Senegal, Mané played for Génération Foot and in July 2011 he signed for FC Metz in France, which brought him into the first-team selection in late January 2012. His Ligue 2 debut came against

on 14 January 2012. The following match, against LB Châteauroux, he was in the starting line-up. He played a total of 22 games for the northern French club and scored two goals.

On 31 August 2012, which was the last day of the summer transfer window, Mané penned a four-year contract with Red Bull Salzburg. The club paid four million euros for him, and Mané made his league debut on 15 September 2012 against SV Ried. He scored 16 times in 26 league games in his first season. He won both the Austrian national league championship and the national cup with Salzburg that year.

On September 2014, Mané was signed on a four-year contract with Southampton, which paid around €12,600,000 for him to Red Bull Salzburg. It was on 18 October 2014 that he scored his first goal in the Premier League, against

. In the 2014/15 season, Mané and his teammates finished in seventh place in the final rankings, which was a new record for Southampton in the Premier League. However, during the 2015/16 season he finished sixth with the club, again an improvement on the club record.

In June 2016, Mané signed a contract until mid-2021 with Liverpool, the Premier League's number eight in the previous season. The club paid around €41,000,000 for him to Southampton, who scored 22 league goals in the 2018/19 season, which made him shared top scorer of the Premier League (along with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and his teammate Mohamed Salah).

Sadio Mané went on to make his debut for the Senegalese football team on 25 May 2012 against

. He scored his first international goal in his next game on 2 June 2012, a 2014 World Cup qualifier in

, against Liberia.

Mohamed Salah

The most valuable 2021 African Cup of Nations striker needs no introduction as every football fan in all over the world knows him well, in part due to his excellent performances in the Liverpool jersey. During the tournament, the market value of Mohamed Salah was 100 million euros, also making him one of the most valuable football players in the world. In the 2021 African Cup of Nations, Salah was a key player for his national team, and played in all of the matches without losing a single minute.

As the captain of the team, he managed to help Egypt make it to the final match of the tournament with two goals and one assist during the competition, but just like the 2017 edition, he was not able to assist Egypt to win another African Cup of Nations trophy as they lost the final match to Senegal on penalties. Salah was definitely one of the top 10 best players in Africa 2021.

Having taken his first steps in his homeland with Al-Mokawloon, he transferred to Basel in 2012, with whom he won the 2012-2013 Super League championship and then, following a brief spell at Chelsea, he made his name in Serie A with Fiorentina and Roma.

He moved back to England in 2017, joining Liverpool, where he became European and world champion, by winning the 2018-2019 UEFA Champions League and 2019 Club World Cup, in addition to the 2019 European Super Cup and 2019-2020 Premier League; in the latter tournament he established the record for most goals scored (32) in a single season. Furthermore, with 153 goals in 238 total appearances, he ranks 9th on the all-time top goalscorer list in a Reds shirt.

On an individual level, he has twice won the African Footballer of the Year award, in 2017 and 2018, and was the Premier League's top scorer on two occasions, in 2017-2018 and 2018-2019. He was awarded the Golden Foot in 2021. He is widely regarded as the greatest Egyptian footballer of all time, and is the second-highest scorer for his national team.

On 3 September 2011, Salah played his first-ever Egyptian football team match, in a 2012 African Football Championship qualifier against Sierra Leone (2-1 loss). One month later, on 8 October, he scored his first international goal, in the same qualifying tournament against

(3-0 win). He also netted in the following international, a friendly against Kenya (5-0 win). So far, he has played a total of 82 matches for his country and scored 47 goals.

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