I moved to China to further my career, says Olunga

Harambee Stars Michael Olunga dribbles past Democratic Republic of Congo's Tisserand Marcel during their international friendly match at Kenyatta Stadium in Machakos on March 26, 2017. Harambee Stars won 2-1. PHOTO | JEFF ANGOTE |

What you need to know:

  • Alone on a foreign land with harsh weather, Harambee Stars striker loses his scoring touch at Swedish club Djurgadens but close friend helps him believe in himself again

Michael Olunga’s high profile Sh487 million transfer from Swedish top-flight club Djurgardens IF to Chinese Super League side Guizhou Zicheng at the beginning of the year upset many of his fans.

That a 23-year-old with such a promising career would choose to leave the Swedish league for China was beyond the understanding of many and when no explanations were forthcoming, it was widely concluded that the lure of money had prevailed over reason. The fans cannot be blamed.

By the end of the 2016 season, Olunga had endeared himself to Djurgardens coach Özcan Melkemichel and to the club’s fans, and had in fact been a contender for the league’s Most Valuable Player award.

Surely, any other European club would have been more ideal than China. The free-spending Chinese league has become football stars beyond their peak, sort of a retirement ground for spent forces.

Harambee Stars striker Michael Olunga celebrates his goal in a previous match on September 6, 2015 during an Africa Cup of Nations qualifier at the Nyayo Stadium. PHOTO | CHRIS OMOLLO |

What’s more? Reputable clubs such as Real Betis (Spain), Galatasaray (Turkey) and CSKA Moscow (Russia) were reported to have tabled a bid for Olunga and a move to any of these clubs would have been regarded as logical, if not clever. But in his first interview with Nation Sport since penning the deal at Guizhou Zicheng, Olunga has made it clear he moved to better his career.

“I think people should be very sceptical about the things that are put out in the media. I read all those rumours about how Galatasaray wanted me but let me tell you. Galatasaray never presented an offer. Real Betis never tabled any offer. Only CSK Moscow approached me, but they had conditions."

“CSKA Moscow had a list of three strikers they needed to sign - I and two other players who were free agents. I still had three years remaining on my contract and so my club could not release me without a buying clause of Sh388.5 million (3.5 million euros). They had the option to either sign the two free agents, or to give my club 3.5 Million euros. They went for the first option and within days the deal was off.

“Chinese football is growing and I thought it was another platform to showcase my talent and so I took it as a challenge,” he said and reiterated that money was a factor he considered last in making the decision.

So has he hit the jackpot? With a salary in the region of Sh12 million every month, does he feel like he has achieved all there is in football?

"I can remember our first ever interview in 2012 when I was still a young player at Tusker and you asked me what my ambitions were. I remember telling you what was in my heart. Which is that I wanted to become the best footballer Kenya has ever produced. I knew that this wouldn’t be an easy task. I knew that it would involve a lot because Kenya produces so many talented players."

“I am not there yet. I still have a long way to go. Many want to play in China right now. The money there is good, good facilities, but l look at things differently. Everyone has their ambitions in football.

“I am still young, and have so many more years ahead of me. I just want to get to the highest level possible. And I am not there yet,” he said.

I remind him that in many of our conversations, he had mentioned playing for Arsenal as his greatest ambition, and he even made an online video and addressed it to the Gunners coach Arsene Wenger to that effect. Does he still hold this dream?

“Of course the English Premier League is one of the most coveted destinations for a footballer. If someone from any EPL club would give me an offer today, I would take it. Even if I had to take a pay cut,” he said.

Olunga, who already earns a lot more than many new players in the EPL said: “When I left Tusker to go to Thika United I took a huge pay cut. Yet I still played and attracted the attention of Gor Mahia. It is not always about the money. Sometimes it is about sacrifices."

Thika United's Michael Olunga shields Tusker's Aboud Omar during their Kenya Premier League match on November 2, 2014 at Ruaraka grounds. PHOTO | CHRIS OMOLLO |

Gor Mahia's Kenyan striker Michael Olunga completes a somersault in celebration after scoring their second goal during their SportPesa Premier League match against Muhoroni Youth at the Nyayo National Stadium on November 1, 2015. PHOTO | CHRIS OMOLLO |

“Even before I settled on Sweden, I had rejected so many offers to go to Morocco, India and South Africa. Those clubs were offering more money that Djurgardens. For every decision I make there is always a reason, and it is not always about the money,” he says.

PLAY TIME

Olunga first announced his presence in the 2013 Kenyan Premier League Under-19 tournament with two breath-taking goals for Tusker. He was absorbed into the senior team shortly afterwards, but left the following year at the advice of his mentor Jacob Mulee and joined Thika United in search of more playing time.

A year later, at his unveiling ceremony with then league champions Gor Mahia, Olunga stood before cameras with a beaming smile, and K’Ogalo announced that they had plucked out the youngster from Thika. It is at Gor Mahia that Olunga’s career really took off.

He finished the season with 19 league goals, missing the Golden Boot that went to Zesco United striker Jesse Were who had scored three goals more for Tusker. Then 21 years, Olunga was named league’s Most Valuable Player, an award that saw him take home a tidy cash prize of Sh1 million.

Michael Olunga poses with the 2015 KPL Player of the Year trophy on December 9, 2015 during Footballer of the Year Awards gala at Safari Park Hotel. PHOTO | CHRIS OMOLLO |

“I remember that day in our interview I didn’t want to reveal much, but the truth is that the moment I was named MVP, my mind was made up. I wouldn’t continue playing in the Kenyan league,” he said.

Two months after emerging the MVP and reports linking him to several clubs, Olunga went to Sweden for trials with IF Djurgardens. It was the fourth time he had gone for trials outside Kenya. Having failed twice at South African club SuperSport United and once at Bidvest Wits, this time he was successful.

“Up to this date, I have never understood why SuperSport never signed me. I remember I scored for them in every game I played. When I went to Bidvest I played two friendlies, scored in both. When I went to SuperSport United for the first time I won for them the Gauteng Cup. When I went there the second time I also scored in a friendly so I have never understood why they snubbed me. Maybe God had a plan for me to play only in Europe.”

“I spoke to Victor Wanyama, gave him my video clips, and asked him to share them with his agent. He did this and Bob Moore monitored me for three months while I was at Gor. Luckily, I did very well both at club level and at the national team during this period and he is the one who secured the trials at Djurgardens,” he said.

Harambee Stars' striker Michael Olunga (centre) and captain Victor Wanyama (right) during a training session at Safaricom Stadium Kasarani on November 10, 2016. PHOTO | MARTIN MUKANGU |

Having signed for Djurgardens, another challenge awaited him. Temperatures averaging 10 degrees celcius, the weight of expectation and loneliness all fell on him. It was just a matter of time before his confidence was eroded. “Sweden was a challenge for me. When I went there for trials, the managers said they had seen my clips, but they said that I was scoring against semi-skilled goalkeepers and poor defenders, so they had to subject me to trials."

“I was the best striker in Kenya but when I went to Sweden, I had to come up with different tricks in order to get into the system. The level of competition there is different, the game is fast-paced, and I think that is why many African footballers fail in Europe.”

Djugardens lost 3-0 at home against Elfsborg in the first competitive match Olunga featured for the team. He was summoned to start in the subsequent game away against Malmo and when he scored no goals and his team lost 2-1, his confidence and self-esteem took a hit.

Fans of the club took to social media, and accused him as being “the worst player” the club has ever signed, and rumours started doing the rounds that he would be sent on loan to a third-tier club.

“Initially, I was signed as a back-up striker. The fourth-choice after Mathias Ranegie (on loan from Watford), (Liberian) Sam Johnson and (Zimbabwean) Tino Kadewere so I had to be patient to get into the starting line-up.

“We had a long string of losses, seven games without a win and the pressure was piling. The coach was fired by the board and in his place came Mark Dempsey. We had lost five consecutive matches. Everyone in the club was frustrated. And the fans of the club were unforgiving. For the first time in my life I relinquished all my social media accounts to my brother. I couldn’t deal with the criticism. My confidence was hurt. When the new coach came in, he said in an interview that it is not about the quality of the strikers, but about their determination.”

It was these words that transformed Olunga and gave him the conviction that he could soldier on and make a name for himself in Sweden.

“I remember going home the day after the unveiling of the coach. I was scurrying the internet when I came across the coach’s interview. When I heard what he had said, I said to myself, ‘now is the opportunity for me to strike’”.

After the arrival of the new coach, Djurgardens sprung back to life, and Olunga went on to record 12 goals in 13 games.

“In Sweden I had a Kenyan friend. And when I started scoring goals every other weekend, he went to Facebook, retrieved all the bad comments from the fans about me. He brought them out one by one and asked the fans, ‘what did you say?’”

Harambee Stars striker Michael Olunga during a training session on March 22, 2017 at Kenyatta Stadium, Machakos. PHOTO | CHRIS OMOLLO |

Harambee Stars striker Michael Olunga in action during a training session on November 11, 2016 at Kasarani. PHOTO | CHRIS OMOLLO |

Olunga’s Kenyan friend is 22-year-old Idrissa Isse Mohammed, a former Kenya Under-17 player currently playing in Swedish third division league while studying in Stockholm.

The club finished seventh in the 16-team league that season, Olunga emerged fifth in the scorers’ chart with 12 goals.

He is now looking to find his form at China. His greatest fear, he says, is that one day he might suffer an injury that will lock him out of the game he loves.

On the day of this interview, Olunga showed up with his girlfriend and younger brother in tow. He was clad in black skinny pants, grey long sleeved muscle shirt and a black baseball cap, perhaps to avoid attention from members of the public.