Kanoute reveals which African striker he’s excited about this LaLiga season

Sevilla’s all-time top scorer Frederic Kanoute has tipped his successor at the Estadio Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan–Morocco’s Youssef En-Nesyri—to be the African striker to watch over the remainder of the Spanish season.

LaLiga sides are set to resume action next week after a near three-month absence due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

Sevilla, who meet rivals Real Betis in their first fixture back, will be expecting great things from their North African striker over the remaining months of the campaign.

Kanoute is certainly excited by the 22-year-old’s progress in Andalusia, and has named En-Nesyri as one of the African players in the Spanish top flight who excites him the most.

“I would say [Youssef] En-Nesyri from Sevilla,” Kanoute told Goal on Wednesday, when asked which African players he was most looking forward to seeing back in action.

“I think he is an exciting player and striker,” the former Mali frontman added. “He is tall, quick and agile, in spite of his height.

“Hopefully, he is going to score many goals for Sevilla.”

En-Nesyri moved to Sevilla from Leganes for €25 million in January 2020, putting pen to paper on a five-year deal.

After scoring four in 18 for Leganes during the first half of the season—following on from nine in 31 last term—he hit the ground running at Sevilla, and already has three goals in his first seven league outings with his new employers.

Kanoute certainly has the authority to give his assessment on Sevilla strikers, having established himself as one of Africa’s most lethal goalscorers during his time in Spain.

The retired attacker is the club’s all-time highest league goalscorer, having netted 131 times in 284 appearances—27 goals more than Brazil’s Luis Fabiano, who’s second on the list.

Spain’s Alvaro Negredo, Davor Suker of Croatia, and current AS Monaco frontman Wissam Ben Yedder complete the top five, although En-Nesyri has some way to go before he can compete with the great names of Sevilla’s past.

Los Nervionenses are currently third in the log having accrued 47 points from 27 outings to date, leaving them 11 points behind league leaders Barcelona.

Kanoute was speaking to Goal during a LaLiga conference on Wednesday ahead of the resumption of Spanish football.