The Ayew brothers are among the best living Ghanaians on the football pitch. And while both may be slightly past their primes, they’re still active in some of the most important domestic football leagues in the world.
A couple of months into 2018/19 campaigns around Europe, we’re checking in on how both brothers are doing so far this season.
André Ayew is getting used to new surroundings after completing a loan to Fenerbahce over the summer. This year unfortunately this hasn’t been the easiest adjustment.
Despite still being arguably the best-known team in the Turkish Super Lig, alongside Galatasaray, Fenerbahce has had its struggles in the early going.
The club finished just three points behind Galatasaray for the league title last spring, so there is some expectation that it can right the ship and surge back into contention. Currently though, eight points out of eight matches is well below the general expectations of a club like this one.
As for Ayew specifically, he has made an impact out of the midfield, though it will take some time for him to jell with his new teammates and really start to orchestrate the offense. In eight starts so far, Ayew has two shots on goal and two goals to show for it.
However, he is still without an assist, which speaks to some of the larger problems of fluidity that Fenerbahce has had.
Ayew has never been particularly well known for facilitating other players, so his value will ultimately be as a threat pushing up from the midfield. However, his new club would undoubtedly like for him to take more of a leadership role engineering offense as well.
Jordan Ayew, meanwhile, is in the midst of a campaign for Crystal Palace in the English Premier League. And if we’re being honest, it was fairly easy to see how this season might go for Crystal Palace.
The Premier League is immensely popular, and as a result there is more punditry every year, and the online betting marketplace is becoming ever more competitive, leading to more precise odds and more exact expectations.
In this case all of this information pointed to a middling season for Crystal Palace, above the relegation zone but nowhere near contention.
And in the early going, this is proving to look just about right. As of this writing, Crystal Palace sits at 14th in the EPL - right in the middle third of the league.
For his part however, Jordan Ayew has done a nice job of starting to work himself into the Crystal Palace plan of attack.
While he has just one assist and no goals in five appearances so far, Jordan Ayew has already shown improvement from the beginning of the season. Indeed just recently Crystal Palace boss Roy Hodgson offered up some praise for his new centre-forward following a surprise victory at Huddersfield Town.
Both brothers ultimately have a nice opportunity to impact major European leagues this season. Both will continue to improve as they settle into new situations.
And at their best, André can help Fenerbahce get back into contention and Jordan can keep Crystal Palace in the middle of the Premier League, rather than drifting toward the bottom.
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