Why Dennis Oliech is in South Africa

South African Premier Soccer League (PSL) side Free State Stars coach Luc Eymael has said he is open to signing former Kenyan international Dennis Oliech should the striker impress in training.

Oliech – who last featured for Harambee Stars on September 6, 2015 in a 2-1 loss to Zambia in the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier at Nyayo Stadium, started training with the side last Friday with an eye on securing a deal with the club, two years after his last competitive match.

“I will assess him this week because we are training on Wednesday until Saturday since we’ve no fixture this weekend,” the Belgian tactician told Nation Sport on Tuesday.

“He just did one training session but I could see he is good in positioning inside the box and it’s a matter of fitness and everything else that will be important but for now I can’t say I am totally impressed because at this level you’ve to see the player more,” added the former AFC Leopards coach.

“Let’s see what will happen in a week’s time then we can make a concrete decision.”

If the deal goes through, Oliech – who has scored 34 goals in 77 games for Kenya - will become the third Kenyan player to feature for the club after defender Joseph “Crouch” Okumu and goalkeeper Willis Ochieng’.

Oliech has formerly enjoyed stints in Qatar, France and United Arab Emirates.

Free State Stars, ranked sixth on the 16-team PSL table with 40 points, visit Orlando Pirates in the final game of the season on May 12.

A week later, they play Brian Onyango’s Maritzburg United in the domestic cup final with the winner earning a ticket to represent the country in the 2019 Caf Confederation Cup.

The club is based in Bethlehem and hosts their matches at the 20,000-capacity Goble Park Stadium.