After initially joining Crystal Palace on loan for the 2018-19 season, the Eagles decided to make the signing of Jordan Ayew permanent prior to the start of last season’s Premier League campaign. The Ghanaian has since successfully become Roy Hodgson’s undisputed leading man in attack, displacing the Belgian marksman Christian Benteke in the process.

After scoring nine top flight goals in his first full season at Selhurst Park, Ayew now has the chance to push on and become a club legend. The question is, will he ever be spoken of in the same breath as some of the other great Ghanaians to have graced the English top flight in the past?

Ayew Has The Potential to Push on


At 29 years old, Ayew is entering the prime of his career, a time when he should be expected to reach his peak. After his reasonably successful breakout season in 2019-20 where his nine goals and three assists helped Palace to a comfortable 14th-place finish, Ayew will be looking to push on and better that in the 2020-21 campaign. The good news for the Ghanaian striker is that Hodgson has made some shrewd adjustments to his side which could help increase the number of chances that fall to the former Swansea City man.

One of the biggest moves that Palace made in the summer transfer window was to snaffle up the promising winger Eberechi Ezi from Queens Park Rangers for an estimated fee of £17 million. The tricky winger bagged 14 goals and eight assists for QPR, putting him near the top of the leaderboard for goal contributions in the Championship last term. Eze is likely to be a regular for Palace this season, and with his ingenuity from the flanks he could create a number of chances for Ayew to get on the end of.

It also appears as though Hodgson is planning to play Wilfried Zaha as a second striker in the 2019-20 campaign. The 27-year-old is renowned for his skills, trickery, and ability to get past defenders. Zaha spent more time playing in midfield last season and this positional change could work wonders for Palace’s attacking potential and for Ayew’s ability to get goals and assists.

This could lead bettors to believe that a top 10 finish for the Eagles could be possible, or at the very least that they are likely to avoid relegation. With Ayew's status boosting the popularity of the Premier League in his home country, as well as the fact that online betting in Ghana is popular, especially on football, then betting on the fortunes of a Ghanaian footballer in a top league could be an intriguing prospect for his fellow countrymen.

How Many Ghanaians Have Played in the Premier League?


There have been a total of 26 Ghanaian players in the Premier League including Ayew. Some of the first players to grace the top flight in the 1990s included Tony Yeboah, who joined Leeds United in 1994, Nii Lamptey, who signed for Aston Villa in the same year, and Junior Agogo, who played for Sheffield Wednesday from 1997-2000.

Only a handful of Ghanaian footballers have played for more than one club in the Premier League. These include Christian Atsu, who played for Everton and then Newcastle United, Jeffrey Schlupp, who won the title with Leicester City and later joined Palace, and Richard Kingson, who played for Birmingham City, Wigan Athletic, and Blackpool between 2007 and 2011.

Ayew and Schlupp are the only Ghanaian players currently active in the top flight, with Ayew’s brother, Andre, currently plying his trade in the Championship with Swansea City alongside three of his fellow countrymen in the division.

Who are the best Ghanaian Footballers to Have Played in England?


Although quite a lot of the Ghana internationals who featured in the English top flight have been forgotten to history, there are a few legends that Ayew would struggle to beat when it comes to deciding who the best Ghanaians to have played in the top flight are. One of the first names that springs to mind when thinking of the greatest players from the country is Yeboah.

Yeboah played 59 matches for Ghana between 1985 and 1997, and scored 29 goals in the process. Leeds arguably got the player in the prime of his career, and this is where the fierce striker scored some of his most famous goals. The only disappointment was that he didn’t stay at the Elland Road club for longer.

The other notable Ghanaian Premier League player is Michael Essien. The midfielder played 168 top flight games in an incredibly strong Chelsea side, and won the Premier League twice in 2005-06 and 2009-10. He also won the Champions League with the Blues in 2011-12.

Ayew still has a good few years ahead of him and, if he can use these to become a club legend at Palace, he could one day be considered among the best Ghanaian footballers in the top flight. 2020-21 could be the season in which Ayew pushes on to greatness.