Alan Shearer says Chelsea legend Didier Drogba is the greatest African player ahead of Mo Salah

The Premier League’s greatest goal scorer Alan Shearer has picked Chelsea legend Didier Drogba as the best African player to grace the English game.

Shearer, who is now a BBC pundit, went head-to-head with former Manchester City defender Micah Richards to pick which African player has the best all round game and influence in the game.

And the Newcastle United legend had no doubt it was the big Ivorian who Jose Mourinho brought to Stamford Bridge from Marseille in 2004.

The Premier League has been blessed with some of the finest talents from Africa, including Emmanuel Adebayor, who played for Tottenham, Arsenal and Crystal Palace, to Jay Jay Okoacha, at Bolton, and Nwankwo Kanu, who arrived Arsenal from Ajax and became a cult a hero at Highbury.

In recent memory, Riyad Mahrez has made a name for himself by leading the charge for Leicester's iconic Premier League title in 2015, and now putting out match-winning performances at Manchester City.

Liverpool duo Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah have helped Liverpool to the Premier League title and Champions League recently.

There was also a case to be made for Manchester City’s Yaya Toure, who was instrumental in the club’s recent dominance, but Shearer said Drogba’s influence transcends goals and has helped build the big-club culture Chelsea have now.

The Newcastle legend told Gary Lineker on the Match of the Day Top 10: “For me, it’s Drogba just for the fact that he has four Premier League titles, four FA cups, nine goals in nine cup finals, one Champions League title and 177 goals for Chelsea, that is for me.”

Drogba formed a lethal partnership with Frank Lampard, and is known for scoring the first FA Cup winning goal at the new Wembley, helping Chelsea to victory under Jose Mourinho in 2007.

He also scored the equaliser and winning penalty in Munich for Chelsea’s first ever Champions League triumph, cementing himself in Stamford Bridge folklore.

And despite many people saying Mo Salah is the best current player in the Premier League and possibly the world, Shearer stuck with Drogba.