He is gangly and wins lots of medals

He is long and gangly and he never looks good doing anything, but Portsmouth's Kanu might be one of the most underrated players in the history of English football.

On Saturday, Kanu became one of the few players to get his third FA Cup winners medal. Kanu scored the winner in South Coast side 1-0 winner over Championship side Cardiff.

During his career in Europe, Kanu has won the: Champions League, UEFA Cup, three Eredivisie Championships, two EPL titles, a Community Shield, and three FA Cups. He is the only current Premiership player to have won the UEFA Champions League, UEFA Cup, Premiership, FA Cup and an Olympic Gold Medal. People fail to realize the great career he has had.

Any other player with three winners medal would be treated like a hero, but not the gangly Nigerian. During his years in English football he has dazzled fans with his great touch.

But Kanu biggest contribution might come in a different area. The big Nigerian was one of the first Africans to really call the EPL home. Without Kanu players like Essien, Drogba, Muntari, Utaka, and Mikel might have never been part of the greatest league in the world

The African Cup of Nations Affect on the EPL

The African Cup of Nations, which starts later this month, is going to have its own say on the Premier League title race. Here is the list of players, from The Guardian, that are in the process of leaving their team to play in the tournament:

Arsenal
Kolo Touré and Emmanuel Eboué (Ivory Coast),
Alexandre Song (Cameroon)
Birmingham
Richard Kingson (Ghana), Mehdi Nafti and Radhi Jaidi (Tunisia)
Blackburn
Aaron Mokoena (South Africa)
Bolton
El Hadji Diouf (Senegal), Abdoulaye Méïté (Ivory Coast)
Chelsea
Mikel John Obi (Nigeria), Didier Drogba and Salomon Kalou (Ivory Coast), Michael Essien (Ghana)
Everton
Joseph Yobo and Yakubu Ayegbeni (Nigeria), Steven Pienaar (South Africa)
Liverpool

Nabil El Zhar (Morocco), Mohamed Sissoko (Mali)

Middlesbrough
Mohamed Shawky (Egypt)
Newcastle
Obafemi Martins (Nigeria), Geremi (Cameroon), Abdoulaye Faye and Habib Beye (Senegal)
Portsmouth
Pape Bouba Diop (Senegal), Nwankwo Kanu and John Utaka (Nigeria), Sulley Muntari (Ghana)
Reading
André Bikey (Cameroon), Emerse Faé (Ivory Coast), Ibrahima Sonko (Senegal)
Sunderland
Dickson Etuhu (Nigeria)
Tottenham
Didier Zokora (Ivory Coast)
West Ham
John Pantsil (Ghana), Henri Camara (Senegal)
Wigan
Salomon Olembe (Cameroon), Julius Aghahowa (Nigeria)

Sky Sports breaks down who is going to feel the loss the most during the next month. Of the top four Manchester United have no one going and Liverpool only have Sissoko, who will not be with the team when he gets back, and a fringe player going.