In our previous end-of-season review, we celebrated Ghanaian players who ended the season in the major European leagues with trophies.
Daniel Amartey, Kudus Mohammed, and Osman Bukari all ended the season on a good note with trophies.
However, some of their Ghanaian counterparts suffered pain after being relegated to the lower divisions with their clubs.
In this episode, we look at the Ghanaian players who were relegated at the end of the 2021/2022 season in the top five major leagues in Europe.
England
In the 2021/2022 English Premier League, Norwich City, Watford and Burnley were relegated at the end of the season with 22, 23, and 35 points respectively.
As far as relegation is concerned in the English top-flight league, no Ghanaian player suffered demotion to the Championship because non of the relegated teams had a Ghanaian in their squad.
Jordan Ayew, Jefffrey Schlup, Thomas Partey, Tariq Fosu, and Mohammed Salisu were the Ghanaian players who featured in the just-ended season, and barring any unforeseen circumstances, they will play in the upcoming season too.
Spain
Just like England, three teams were relegated at the end of the season because they run a 20-man league system.
Deportivo Alaves, Levante, and Granada were relegated at the end of the 2021/2022 Spanish La Liga season as they finished bottom three with 31, 35, and 38 respectively.
There aren't many Ghanaian players in the Spanish league but none suffered demotion to the lower-tier league.
Joseph Aidoo is a notable Ghanaian in the La Liga but his team Celta Vigo finished 11th with 46 points.
Germany
The Bundesliga season ended with Bayern Munich winning their 10th consecutive league trophy while Borussia Dortmund, Bayer Leverkusen, and RB Leipzig picked up the Champions League slots.
Greuther Furth and Arminia Bielefeld were relegated to n 18-man-league while Hertha Berlin survived relegation in playoffs against Hamburg.
Kevin-Prince Boateng was a contender for relegation but he helped Hertha Berlin to beat Hamburg in the playoffs.
France
FC Metz and Bordeaux have been relegated with 31 points each while 17th placed St Etienne made it to the playoff stage.
Black Stars defender, Gideon Mensah will be saying bye-bye to the French League 1 after suffering demotion with Bordeaux. He made 9 appearances and will be returning to his parent club Vitória de Guimarães.
Italy
The Milan clubs were the biggest winners in the 2021/2022 Italian top-flight football season. AC Milan won the league for the first time in 11 years while Inter Milan beat Juventus to win the Copa Italian.
On the other hand, Cagliari, Venezia, and Genoa were relegated for finishing bottom on the table with 27, 28, and 30 points respectively after 38 games.
The only team who had a Ghanaian in their squad among the relegated teams in Italy is Genoa with Caleb Ansah Ekuban.
Caleb Ansah Ekuban joined Genoa from Turkish side Trabzonspor for a reported €1.8 million in 2021.
Author: Joel Eshun
Gideon Mensah and Caleb Ekuban