Mahrez, Mane, Aouar & more: Top Africans of 2024-25 RSL | OneFootball

The Roshn Saudi League has always had a special relationship with African players, particularly those from North African powerhouses like Egypt, Morocco and Algeria.

But as the league becomes ever more global, there’s an increasing African influence throughout the RSL from across the vast continent to the west.

And, with Al Ettifaq recently signing hugely promising South African youngster Mohau Nkota, we celebrate some of the best from last season who left their imprint on the 2024-25 RSL.

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Riyad Mahrez – Al Ahli (Algeria)

The Algerian wizard has been a standout from the first moment he arrived in the league, and his extra-special form continued last term for Al Ahli.

In a campaign that also saw the Jeddah club win their first continental title in the AFC Champions League Elite, Mahrez led from the front again with eight goals and 10 assists in the RSL.

Ally that to a further nine goals and eight assists to propel Al Ahli to Asian glory and it marked a superb second season in Saudi Arabia.

After claiming the AFC Champions League Elite title, Mahrez promised publicly to Al Ahli fans to bring the league crown back to the green half of Jeddah next season. Can he be true to his word?

Al Ahli's Riyad Mahrez (centre left) led the AFC Champions League Elite for goal contributions with 17

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Houssem Aouar - Al Ittihad (Algeria)

One player who did celebrate league success this season is Mahrez’s former international teammate, Houssem Aouar, who had an incredible debut campaign for Al Ittihad as they made it two top-flight titles in three seasons.

The former Olympique Lyon and AS Roma star made an immediate impact in the RSL with five goals and an assist in his opening six games, striking up a chemistry in attack with Karim Benzema, Moussa Diaby and Steven Bergwijn that proved to be one of the league’s most dangerous.

Ultimately, Aouar finished the season with 12 goals and four assists - and the first league title of his career.

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Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang - Al Qadsiah (Gabon)

The former Arsenal, Barcelona and Olympique Marseille striker became just the fifth Gabonese player to grace the RSL last summer, but he is certainly the most high-profile.

On the back of a brilliant 2023-24 campaign in France, he arrived in the Eastern Province promising to “put on a show” - and the self-described showman did just that as he helped Al Qadsiah to an impressive fourth place upon their first season back in the top flight.

His partnership with Mexican striker Julian Quinones was the league’s most prolific, with 37 of Al Qadsiah’s 53 goals last season coming from the duo as a new era reigned an Al Khobar.

Aubameyang’s departure was announced last week and, even though his stay in Saudi was short, it was very much sweet.

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Myziane Maolida - Al Kholood (Comoros)

While 26-year-old Maolida might not have been a household name, he most definitely made a name for himself at Al Kholood with a career-best haul of 15 league goals in his first season in the Kingdom.

Capped 13 times by Comoros, Maolida arrived after a loan spell in Scotland with Hibernian – he also has stops at Nice, Hertha BSC and Reims also on his CV – where a 10-goal season in Scotland represented his finish campaign to date.

But Maolida was instrumental in helping Al Kholood, who were playing in the RSL for the first time in their history, to a very impressive ninth-placed finish – and a second season in the big league with the promise of much more to come.

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Abderrazak Hamdallah - Al Shabab (Morocco)

The Moroccan striker will go down as one of the greatest Africans to ever grace the RSL given his goalscoring feats during so many years - and the 2024-25 season was no different.

Hamdallah came into last term second on the RSL all-time scorers list, hot on the heels of Syria’s Omar Al Somah, and made no secret of his desire to break the record.

While Al Somah’s surprise return to the league midway through the campaign – the Al Ahli legend signed for Al Orobah – means that chase continues for another season, Hamdallah’s 21 goals on debut for Al Shabab means he has scored 20 goals or more in five of his six seasons in the RSL.

With that, three golden boots have already been added to the mantelpiece. Could the league veteran break Cristiano Ronaldo’s recent stranglehold on that top-scorer honour in 2025-26?

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Yassine Bono - Al Hilal (Morocco)

The Moroccan shot-stopper has been one of the league’s best goalkeepers ever since arriving ahead of the 2023-24 season, winning the Golden Glove award in his first campaign with 15 clean sheets.

While he managed “only” 10 last time out as Al Hilal’s recent dominance of the league waned slightly, it still ranked Bono third in the league. Still, his exploits at this month’s FIFA Club World Cup demonstrate why Al Hilal renewed his contract through until 2026.

Bono’s penalty save against Real Madrid, not to mention countless other incredible stops, kept Al Hilal alive and allowed them to secure the historic upset victory against Manchester City, proving why he is one of the best goalkeepers in the league.

Al Hilal react to Yassine Bono's brilliant penalty stop v Real Madrid in FIFA Club World Cup opener

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Sadio Mane - Al Nassr (Senegal)

While silverware continued to elude Al Nassr and their legion of fans, it certainly wasn’t through lack of effort from those on the pitch.

Chief among those was former Liverpool winger Mane, who enjoyed a fine second campaign at the club - and that’s saying something considering he scored 13 goals and assisted eight times though 2023-24.

But with 14 goals and 11 assists last time out, Mane was simply scintillating at times as Al Nassr tried to keep in touch with the top two. In the end, they came home third, with their Senegalese forward chief in that strong finish to the season.

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For special video content of the top Africans in action, featuring many more than listed above, check out our "Best of 2024-25" series on our official YouTube channel HERE.