Paul Labile Pogba is the latest Muslim to have joined the English Premier League, playing for Manchester United. He was introduced to the Islamic faith by his mother. Yeo Moriba, his mother, has been described as his inspiration.
The English Premier League is the most watched professional sport league in the world. Clubs have diverse squads and players coming from different nationalities, race and religion.
In the last ten years, the number of Muslim footballers have increased in the league and with certain changes have had to be taken place such as keeping an eye on those who fast during Ramadan and to not give bottles of champagne to them if they become man of the match. Here is a list of 47 Muslim players who will be playing for English teams for the year 2016-2017.
Paul Labile Pogba
Midfielder – Age: 23
Club: Manchester United
Eden Hazard
Born: La Louvière, Belgium
Midfielder – Age: 25
Club: Chelsea
Adnan Januzaj
Born: Brussels, Belgium
Midfielder – Age 21
Club: Manchester United
Mame Biram Diouf
Born: Dakar, Senegal
Forward – Age 28
Club: Stoke City
Sofiane Feghouli
Nationality: Algerian/French
Midfielder – Age: 26
Club: West Ham United
Ahmed Musa
Nationality: Nigerian
Forward – Age: 23
Club: Leicester City
Mesut Özil
Nationality: Germany (Turkish)
Midfielder – Age: 27
Club: Arsenal
Riyad Mahrez
Nationality: Algerian/French (Algerian)
Midfielder – Age: 25
Club: Leicester City
Yaya Sanogo
Born: France
Striker – Age: 23
Club: Arsenal
Kurt Zouma
Defender – Age: 21
Club: Chelsea
Marouane Fellaini
Born: Etterbeek, Belgium
Midfielder – Age: 28
Club: Manchester United
Bacary Sagna
Born: Sens, France
Defender – Age: 33
Club: Manchester City
Samir Nasri
Born: Septèmes-les-Vallons, France
Midfielder – Age: 29
Club: Manchester City
Yaya Toure
Born: Bouaké, Côte d’Ivoire
Age: 33
Club: Manchester City
Mamadou Sakho
Born: Paris, France
Defender – Age: 26
Club: Liverpool
Emre Can
Born: Frankfurt, Germany
Midfielder – Age: 22
Club: Liverpool
Asmir Begovic
Born: Bosnia
Goalkeeper – Age: 29
Club: Chelsea
Younes Kaboul
Born: Saint-Julien-en-Genevois, France
Defender – Age: 30
Club: Tottenham
Moussa Dembele
Midifielder – Age: 29
Club: Tottenham
Nacer Chadli
Born: Liège, Belgium
Midfielder – Age: 27
Club: Tottenham
Nabil Bentaleb
Born: Lille, France (Plays for Algeria)
Midfielder – Age: 21
Club: Tottenhan
Cheikhou Kouyate
Born: Dakar, Senegal
Midfielder – Age: 26
Club: West Ham
Arouna Koné
Born: Anyama, Ivory Coast
Striker – Age: 32
Club: Everton
Sadio Mané
Born: Sédhiou, Senegal
Midfield – Age: 24
Club: Liverpool
Andre Ayew
Born: Seclin, France (Nationality: Ghanaian)
Midfielder – Age 26
Club: West Ham United
Mohamed Elneny
Born: El-Mahalla El-Kubra, Egypt
Midfield – Age: 24
Club: Arsenal
Abdul Rahman Baba
Born: Tamale, Ghana
Defender – Age: 22
Club: Chelsea
Xherdan Shaqiri
Nationality: Swiss, Kosovo and Albanian (Born: SFR Yugoslavia)
Midfielder – Age 24
Club: Stoke City
Lewis Grabban
Born: Croydon, London, England (Jamaican)
Striker – Age: 28
Club: A.F.C Bournemouth
Essaid Belkalem
Born: Mekla, Algeria
Defender – Age: 27
Club: Watford
Abdoulaye Doucouré
Born: Meulan-en-Yvelines, France
Midfield – Age: 23
Club: Watford
Nordin Amrabat
Born: Naarden, Netherlands (Nationality: Moroccan)
Midfield – Age: 29
Club: Watford
İlkay Gündoğan
Born: Gelsenkirchen, Germany
Midfielder – Age: 25
Club: Manchester City
Yohan Benalouane
Born: Bagnols-sur-Cèze, France
Defender – Age: 29
Club: Leicester City
Wahbi Khazri
Born: Ajaccio, Corsica, France(Nationality: Tunisian)
Defender – Age: 25
Club: Sunderland
Lamine Koné
Born: Paris, France (Nationality: Ivorian)
Defender – Age: 27
Club: Sunderland
Adlene Guedioura
Born: La Roche-sur-Yon, France (Nationality: Algerian)
Midfielder – Age: 30
Club: Watford
Ahmed Elmohamady
Born: Basyoun, Egypt
Midfielder – Age: 28
Club: Hull City
Youssouf Mulumbu
Born: Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo
Midfielder – Age: 29
Club: Norwich City
Ibrahim Afellay
Born: Utrecht, Netherlands
Midfield – Age: 30
Club: Stoke City
Bakary Sako
Born: Ivry-sur-Seine, France(Malian)
Midfield – Age: 28
Club: Crystal Palace
Gokhan Inler
Born: Olten, Switzerland
Midfield – Age: 32
Club: Leicester City
Muhamed Bešić
Born: Berlin, Germany (Bosnian)
Midfield – Age: 23
Club: Everton
Oumar Niasse
Born: Ouakam, Senegal
Striker – Age: 26
Club: Everton
Shani Tarashaj
Born: Hausen am Albis, Switzerland
Striker – Age: 21
Club: Everton
