Top Five: Nigerians who have been relegated from the Premier League

One of Nigeria’s all-time greats, and Kanu has certainly achieved more than almost any other African player in history.

He’s won the Premier League, the Champions League, the Uefa Cup, Olympic gold, played in World Cups, but he’s also tasted relegation as well.

Having been part of West Bromwich Albion’s great escape in 2005, he succumbed to the drop with Portsmouth five years later.

Spent the best part of a decade with Everton, helping the Toffees challenge for European qualification.

However, Yobo also tasted life at the other end of the top flight, with his career coming to a close—in unfortunate circumstances—with relegation with Norwich City while on loan in 2014.

It was a sad finale for Yobo, who had won the Africa Cup of Nations crown only a year before his descent with the Canaries.

Following the glories he enjoyed during the 1990s—both with Nigeria and Ajax—things unravelled for talented wideman Finidi after the turn of the century.

After being relegated with Real Betis in 2000—having finished in the top four only three years previously—Finidi moved to Ipswich Town, hoping to help the Tractor Boys build on their impressive first season back in the top flight.

Things didn’t go to plan, with the wideman and the Suffolk side plummeting into the second tier.

Beat the drop with both Portsmouth and Middlesbrough, but it was to be third time unlucky with Blackburn Rovers, as Yakubu’s last act in the top flight was to drop out of the big time in 2012.

Ironically, that campaign was to be his best in the Premier League, as he netted 17 goals for the beleaguered Rovers, only to be let down by those around him.

It’s the last we ever saw of the goalscoring sensation in the top tier, a he took his poaching elsewhere with stints in China, Qatar, Turkey and the lower leagues.

Another Nigerian hitman to pass through Portsmouth, Utaka was a teammate of Kanu’s when Pompey dropped out of the top tier amidst financial meltdown in 2010.

Utaka had been an FA Cup winner in 2008 with the south-coast club, and would bounce back in style from his relegation heartache with Portsmouth, eventually going on to win the French title with Montpellier-Herault in 2012.

Despite Everton’s heroics against Chelsea on Sunday, as they defeated the European champions 1-0 at Goodison Park, Nigeria’s Iwobi remains in grave danger of becoming the latest name added to this list.

The 26-year-old appears to finally be winning over some admirers at Goodison Park, but the Toffees remain two points off safety with five games to play.

Can they launch a late comeback, or will Iwobi become the latest Super Eagle to taste Premier League relegation?