Ten African footballers who failed to live up to potential in the last decade

Estimated reading time: 8 minutes

The African footballing sphere has in recent times seen many phenomenal stars. Domestically and internationally, the continent has put some of the very best on the scene.

While some of these players have gone on to achieve good fortunes with both club side and nation in the past decade, some have failed to live up to the expectation of staying at the very top.

Here are some of the lot who have not given a decent return on investment over the past decade.

Nicolas Pepe

Arsenal FC brought on the Ivorian international fresh off leading Lille OSC to the French Ligué un title. Signed for the then record for an African player, Pepe didn’t quite transcend the levels of his previous team to Arsenal.

His time at North-London had few moments of brilliance that could have justified the heavy price tag he commanded while the other part off the field issues, time on the bench and squabbles with the managerial team.

This window of missed opportunities gave time to youngster of Nigerian descent Bukayo Saka to fully cement the right wing spot of the London heavyweights as his.

Jordon Ibe

Ibe of Nigerian and English descent became a big part of the Liverpool team in 2015. 3 years after joining from Wycombe Wanderers.

The former English youth international scored 4 senior goals in over half a century appearances. With Klopp’s arrival at Merseyside, he made a move to AFC Bournemouth where he racked up 96 appearances in the ensuing 4 years.

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Post lockdown, he made just an appearance in combined stints for Derby county and Adanaspor. The exciting and explosive Jordon Ibe tipped for greatness by the Kop faithful now currently plies his trade in the national league having joined Ebbsfleet as a free agent.

Dele Alampasu

The 2013 U-17 golden gloves winner was encouraged by many quarters to be the heir apparent to Vincent Enyeama.

The 6ft6 goalkeeper had a tournament to remember as the Golden Eaglets won their 4th world championship. Having undergone trials with Genk, Braga and Real Oviedo, he finally secured a contract with Estoril in Portugal.

He spent 3 months at the club over contractual issues and signed for Feirense in the same country where he kick-started his career.

Many would have expected Alampasu to have morphed into a world-class goalkeeper and amongst the lead ones in the continent by this time.

Georges Kevin N’koudou

Spurs acquired his services with Clinton Njie going the other way in 2016. He quickly became a fan favourite before even making his Spurs debut as certain complexities surrounded his transfer.

N’koudou tipped to be the next big thing in North-London, performed below par going on loan to Burnley and AS Monaco whilst remaining a fringe player for the rest of his Tottenham Hotspur career.

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His attempt to rejuvenate his career took him to the Turkish Super Ligue with Besiktas and now plying his trade with Damac FC in the Saudi Pro division.

Saido Berahino

The Burundi international polled 20 goals in all competitions during the 2014/15 season as West Brom ended up 13th in the English top-flight. Triggering interest from Mauricio Pochettino’s Tottenham.

Amidst rejected bids by the West Bromwich Albion management, Berahino was caught in between transfer drama that summer. Reacting to these events, Berahino tweeted he’ll never play for the Magpies again.

A decision he admitted ultimately derailed his career. On moving to Stoke City 11 months later, he had already become a shadow of the player he was evolving too. 

Wilfried Bony

Bony’s time at Manchester city was complicated by injuries, international inclinations, form concerns and injury concerns. City paid exceeses of £25 million to pry away the 2014 calendar year top scorer amongst premier league players from Swansea city.

Unfortunate that his time at the Ethaid was a period they boasted the likes of Sergio Aguero, Edin Dzeko, Stevan Jovetic and the young Kelechi Iheanacho.

The Ivorian international never quite it off with Manuel Pellegrini’s side suffering unfortunate injuries and not taking in a full season under the belt for the Cityzens.

Nampalys Mendy

Fresh off being crowned English league champions, the Foxes paid a then club record fee of £13 million to sign Papy Mendy from OGC Nice.

The Leicester city player of the year N’golo Kante rejected a new contract offer with the club meaning Claudio Ranieri had to reunite with his former player.

Dubbed “the next Kante”, the Senegalese international went off injured on his debut and continued to battle it with fitness all through his stay in England.

Isaac Success

Nigerian footballer, Isaac Success burst onto the scene with his explosive performances alongside Kelechi Iheanacho at the African U17 Championship in 2013.

He sadly picked up an injury in the world cup opener later in UAE that year against Mexico which ruled him out of the tournament.

Tipped to be one of the most successful of Manu Garba’s Golden Eaglets, it’s been rather contrasting fortunes for the Nigerian international over his time at Granada, Watford and now Udinese.

Bebé

Tiago Manuel Dias Correia – popularly known as “Bebé”. Bebe went from scoring 40 goals in 6 matches at the homeless world cup for Portugal to signing for Manchester United in just under a year.

For him, Sir Alex Ferguson broke his rule of signing players he hadn’t seen play, United’s backroom staff had faith in Bebe’s potential at Old Trafford, confirming he wouldn’t be loaned out and would join up with the first-team squad.

Now representing the Cape Verde national team, Bebé never hit the heights many expected him to take. Sir Alex Ferguson expected more from Bebe and remarked in his book. He said: “Bebe came with limitations but there was a talent there. He had fantastic feet.”

Also, “He struck the ball with venom, off either foot, with no drawback. He was not the complete player, but we were coaching him to be better. On the big pitch his concept of team play needed work. With feet like his, he was capable of scoring 20 goals a season.”

Sunday Mba

The home based player was Nigeria’s hero at the 2013 African cup of nations. Netting winners against Ivory Coast and Burkina Faso in the final.

Building on the laurels of that surreal tournament, he could only secure a move to French side CA Bastia were he spent the 2014/2015 season. Followed by a move to Turkish outfit Yeni Malatyaspor.

In 2019, expressed interest in wanting to return to competitive football after 2 years out of action. Many would have expected the former Super Eagles attacking midfielder to take big steps in his career following that AFCON triumph.