The best of the continent’s finest footballers will assemble in Ivory Coast next month for the biggest football fiesta
Fulham’s versatile centre-back Calvin Bassey is the only Nigerian player on the list of the top 20 most valuable African defenders, Soccernet.ng reports.
According to Transfermarkt, Bassey is now valued at €16 million, making him the player with the 11th most valuation among defenders on the continent.
The most valuable African defender is Paris Saint Germain and Moroccan full-back Achraf Hakimi, with an estimated value of €65 million.
The former Borussia Dortmund star is followed in second place by Burkina Faso and Bayer 04 Leverkusen Edmond Tapsoba, who is valued at €40 million.
Morocco’s duo of West Ham’s Nayef Aguerd (€38m) and Bayern Munich’s Noussair Mazraoui (€30m) come in at third and fifth position, respectively, sandwiching Ivory Coast and Bayer Leverkusen star Odilon Kossounou in fourth place.
Algeria’s Rayan Aït-Nouri (6th) is joined by three more Ivorians – Ousmane Diomande (7th), Evan Ndicka (8th), and Wilfried Singo (9th) – and Mozambique’s Reinildo Mandava in the top ten.
After Bassey, the next Nigerian international on the list is Fenerbahce’s Bright Osayi-Samuel, whose valuation of €8.5 million places him on 26th on the rung.
Nottingham Forest right-back Ola Aina (€8m) is ranked 29th, while KAA Gent’s Jordan Torunarigha (€6m, 41st), and Porto’s Zaidu Sanusi (€6m, 42nd) complete Nigeria’s top five.
All five have been included in Nigeria’s 40-man provisional roster for the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations next month.
