Thursday 22 January 2015 12:25, UK
The Africa Cup of Nations has for a long while been a shop window for African talent and five of the most expensive players from the continent have been bought by English clubs, reports Sky Sports News HQ's Geraint Hughes.
Two decades ago, there was minimal interest in the Africa Cup of Nations outside the continent itself. It's always been a celebration of the best of African football, colourful and with loud support, but not many people in Europe found a way to watch the football.
Supporters of European clubs had little empathy as very few African players had to leave their clubs to go and play in a tournament that effectively sits in the middle of a season.
That was until scouts from Europe's major leagues realised the incredible talent playing in Africa. Belgian clubs and scouts will tut and roll their eyes because they saw the pool of talent before clubs in England, Germany, Italy and Spain did, but for the last 20 years or so, it has been commonplace for many of the best clubs in Europe to send over scouts to watch the Africa Cup of Nations.
Former Mali international and star of West Ham, Tottenham and Sevilla Fredi Kanoute still believes Africa is the biggest pool of footballing talent in the world, telling me that in Bata a few days ago.
He was also convinced that despite the Ebola virus and the travel restrictions in place for people getting to Equatorial Guinea - many people deemed not essential to the Africa Cup of Nations have been refused visas by the government in an attempt to limit any potential spread of Ebola from West Africa to Central Africa - some scouts will be desperate to get to games to watch the footballing talent on offer.
For current players, they're fully aware of who might be sitting in the stands watching them, assessing them and feeding back to whichever club may be asking for a report.
Wilfried Bony, who recently moved to Manchester City from Swansea, told me that he has always been aware that when he wears the Ivory Coast shirt, there's been a good chance someone was watching him from a European club.
Although Bony is well on his way to stardom, he said the younger players in the Ivory Coast squad know full well that a great tournament in Equatorial Guinea could get them a significant move.
He explained that most of the squad played outside of Africa now, but some played in leagues that don't get huge exposure, but the Africa Cup of Nations does provide the exposure.
It's something Hibernian striker Dominique Malonga agrees with. The Congo forward was forthright when he explained to me on a beach close to his team hotel in Bata that it's normal for a player to perform well at the Africa Cup as it could lead to a big signing. Simple as that.
Claude Le Roy, Malonga's coach with Congo, has pretty much seen everything African football has to offer. He's managed more African sides than I've probably had hot dinners, won the trophy itself and now leads a Congo side where every single member of the squad has never before played international tournament football.
He acknowledged that much of the African talent already plays in Europe now, but that the Africa Cup provides a platform that is priceless. He told of his 21-year-old goalkeeper who plays Fourth Division football in France.
He said he's probably played no more than 20 games, but he knows he's a talent that will be watched here, but not necessarily back in France. His advice? Don't worry about the odd mistake, show your raw potential and the rest as they say could well be history.
