Thomas Partey named in French football magazine' African best XI

The highly reputable publication announced its annual selection on Wednesday, January 2 with a refreshing list of Africa’s next superstars that many people outside of the related leagues may not yet know about

Liverpool duo Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane are named in the first XI but unnexpectedly omitting Pierre Emerick-Aubameyang.

With Arsenal and Gabonese forward Aubameyang sitting joint-top as the English Premier League’s scorers chart, it is perhaps a shocking overlook, however, Gabon’s absence at the recent 2018 World Cup surely counted against the 29-year-old.

France Football’s 2018 African XI:

Goalkeeper

Andre Onana – Cameroon, Ajax

Defenders

Yousef Atal – Algeria, Nice

Kalidou Koulibaly – Senegal, Napoli

Manu Da Costa – Morocco, Istanbul

Achraf Hakimi – Morocco, Dortmund

Midfielders

Thomas Partey – Ghana, Atletico Madrid

Wilfred Ndidi – Nigeria, Leicester City

Hakim Ziyech – Morocco, Ajax

Forwards

Riyad Mahrez – Algeria, Man City

Sadio Mane – Senegal, Liverpool

Mohamed Salah – Egypt, Liverpool

SUBSTITUTES:

Samatta (Tanzania, Genk), Gana Gueye (Sénégal, Everton), Pépé (Côte d’Ivoire, Lille), Aubameyang (Gabon, Arsenal), Bounou (Morocco, Girona), Badri (Tunisia, Espérance), Toko Ekambi (Cameroon, Villarreal).