Meet Bounedjah -The African Who Has Scored More Goals than Messi and Ronaldo

A wave of optimism hovers as the football world awaits with bated breath over where next for this headline-hugging star.

He is the best there is in terms of the number of goals racked up and is ahead of anyone who considers himself a striker, regardless of the league, including goal-addicts Cristiano Ronaldo and Messi. The fact that he comes from Africa makes it more fascinating. For once, there would be the talk of who commands the most goals in a league without the mentioning of Ronaldo or the Portuguese’s nemesis at the Camp Nou.

Bizarrely, he’s not well covered in the African media despite being linked with the English Premier League’s Leicester City and Leeds United in the Championship –England’s second tier.

But it’s a different case in Algeria –understandably where he was born.

A serious European heavyweight club in the hunt for a goal-getter with a brand to protect, poaching players in the Qatar Stars League is unheard of. Baghdad Bounedjah will soon be the breaker of that hoodoo by all indications.

The avalanche of suitors courting his services has hit rooftop. His statistics will be mind-boggling even by Ronaldo’s standards; never mind the division he plies his trade in. The 27-year-old Desert Foxes’ forward has notched a combined 60 for club and country and is on 28 goals for record title winners Al-Sadd, an outfit that has the caliber of Barcelona’s legend Xavi Hernandez in its books.

A move to the EPL is an attractive prospect but Leicester must fend off overtures from Olympique de Marseille of the French Ligue 1 who have already promised the Algerian a consistent run of games. At the King Power Stadium, gaffer Claude Puel may not be a guarantor of that, given that Kelechi Iheneancho, Jamie Vardy, Okazaki are all world-class players.

Baghdad appears destined to leave in January to the Premier League if he chooses glamour with compatriot Rachid Ghezzal there to provide him company should he opt for Leicester.

However, any transfer will have to pull off hinges on the Qatari Stars League’s Al Sadd who have a contract with the mask-man until 2021.  There would be an attempt to keep the striker by Al Sadd’s board as is the natural reaction of any club with a prized possession.

Sadd acquired him from Tunisia’s Etoile Sportif du Sahel for a fee as low as 1.7 M pounds and would be sure laughing all the way to the bank if any foreign suitor matches their 10M pounds valuation of Bounedjah.

Bounedjah himself itches for a switch to the European game.

“I’m at rest, and I prefer to allow my leaders take care of my contacts, leaving in winter will not only depend on my decision, I am still in Al Sadd and I want to help my team achieve its goals. Now, who does not want to play in Europe! But my fate does not depend solely on me, that’s all,” the goal assassin, among five nominated for the best Algerian player award for 2018, says regarding his much-discussed future.

The golden boot winner in the Asian Champions League with 13 goals, it will be interesting to watch how this talent minds the gap and replicate his scoring prowess in a more developed league.