Matasi speaks after Saint George move

Patrick Matasi after signing for Ethiopian giants St George Sports Club on October 18, 2018. PHOTO | COURTESY |

What you need to know:

  • The Ethiopian season begins on October 27 with St George away to Bahar Dar Kenema.
  • Matasi joins compatriots Eric Muranda and Sunday Mutuku who ply their trade with premier league sides Debub Police and Sidama Coffee respectively.

Harambee Stars goalkeeper Patrick Matasi on Thursday completed a move to Ethiopian giants St George Sports Club.

Matasi, who joined Tusker from Posta Rangers in June, left the country Thursday morning for Addis Ababa, where he penned a three-year deal worth Sh4 million in one of the most expensive transfers from the SportPesa Premier League in the recent past.

Nation Sport understands that Tusker will pocket Sh4 million out of the deal barely four months after acquiring the 30-year-old on a free transfer from Posta Rangers.

He is reportedly going to earn Sh400,000 in monthly salaries, Sh2.5 million in signing on fee and the club will provide him with a fully furnished house.

“I knew the right time will come for me to make such a professional move. This is just a reward of the hard work I’ve been putting in back home,” Matasi told Nation Sport moments after signing the deal at the club offices in Addis Ababa last evening.

The deal was arrived at after the 29-time Ethiopian Premier League champions scouted him during the two matches of the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) qualifiers against Walya Antelopes last week.

The club, who’ve been monitoring the player since his exploits at the 2017 Cecafa Senior Challenge Cup, completed the paperwork with Tusker on Wednesday night.

Matasi, who has 21 caps for Harambee Stars, has not conceded in the three Afcon qualifiers that he has started, including back-to-back clean sheets against Ethiopia last week.

“It was part of the agreement when we signed him in June that we won’t stand in his way should a deal arise from across the borders,” Tusker Chief Executive Officer Charles Obiny said.

This will be the second multi-million deal the 11-time Kenyan champions has done in recent times, following the exit of Ugandan left back Shaffik Batambuze to Tanzania’s Singida United in the 2017 midseason transfer where the brewers reportedly bagged Sh2 million in transfer fee.

Batambuze has since joined Tusker’s rivals Gor Mahia.

St George, founded in 1935, hosts its matches at 35,000-seater Addis Ababa stadium and will represent the country in next year’s Caf Champions League after clinching their 29th title last year.

The Ethiopian season begins on October 27 with St George away to Bahar Dar Kenema.

Matasi joins compatriots Eric Muranda and Sunday Mutuku who ply their trade with premier league sides Debub Police and Sidama Coffee respectively.

BIO DATA

Name: Patrick Musotsi Matasi

Date of Birth: December 11, 1987

Current team: Tusker FC

Previous teams: West Kenya Sugar, AFC Leopards, Posta Rangers