Gor Mahia News

Gor Mahia appear set to lose their leading scorer Meddie Kagere to Tanzanian side Simba Sports club. Kagere has been a target of Simba and Yanga along with Francis Kahata.  The Rwandese striker arrived quietly in Tanzania and was photographed with Simba officials by Tanzanian news outlet Mwanaspoti.

So secretive was the move that Gor Mahia officials appear to have been caught off guard.

“Honestly speaking I am not aware that Kagere is in Tanzania. He came to me on Sunday and requested for a day off as he intended to travel back home to get the new passport. I am shocked to hear from you that he instead, travelled to Tanzania,” said Jolawi Obondo to goal.com

Earlier on, coach Dylan Kerr was quoted as saying that the club will only sign one player.

“I have a good team, I have full trust in this team. This window we will not be very active, we are looking for one striker and that will be it. The truth is it’s not easy to get a good striker during this window but we will keep looking. If we do not find one, I will continue with the group I have,” he said to futaa.com

With the glut of fixtures facing the club, one would have expected Kogalo to pursue at least three players.

One player who has been linked with a move to Gor Mahia is Erisa Sekisambu, a Ugandan player who plays as an attacking midfielder and sometimes as a forward.

“I don’t think I will be at Vipers next season,” Ssekisambu revealed while he appeared on NTV Press Box last month. “I have served the Ugandan league, it’s now time to face new challenges,” he told Kawowo sports.

Sekisambu who has featured for the Uganda Cranes, currently players for Vipers FC alongside Dan Sserunkuma. He had previously played for URA, Express and Sports Club Villa.

Another player whom Gor Mahia might pursue is Burundian attacker Francis Mustapha who has expressed an interest in joining Kogalo.

“I watched them play Rayon Sports (in the Caf Confederation Cup in Kigali) and said to myself ‘this is the team I want to play for’. Even in Bujumbura, everybody knows about Gor Mahia. Under their current coach, they are playing very sexy football which suits me.” said Mustapha to goal.com

Mustapha indicated that the club had indeed approached him.

“When Gor Mahia officials reached out to me earlier this month, I was excited, but at that time the league was in a crucial stage and I couldn’t get time to come to Nairobi to finalize the move. Now I am ready because we play our final league match of the season on Wednesday.” he continued.

Long serving Kogalo attacker George Odhiambo Blackberry has opted to renew his contract at the club after a protracted negotiation between the club and his agent. Blackberry was the last key player who had not renewed hos contract.

“Blackbbery’ has committed to Gor Mahia after agreeing to sign a one and half year contract extension. He was the only player, who was yet to extend his stay after his contract had run down but I can confirm now that he will be with us next season. As we speak, he (Odhiambo) has travelled to Nakuru to join the rest in pre-season training. I now believe that the team is ready and good to go.” said club CEO Omondi Aduda to goal.com

Blackberry first joined Kogalo in 2009, left at the end of 2010 and returned in 2014. He has experienced a major career revival in 2017 that saw him earn a place in the national team where he had not played since 2011.

Aduda also confirmed that the club has released Rwandese midfielder Jean Baptiste Mugiraneza. He had request a release in order to get more playing time after being unable to cement a first team place at Kogalo.

“We have officially released the player and from what I am gathering is that he has signed for APR. We want to wish him well for whatever he did for our club and respect his choice.” said Aduda.

Also leaving the club is Mike Simiyu who has joined Mathare and John Ndirangu who will play for Kakamega Homeboyz this season

Gor Mahia have signed Western Stima midfielder Bernard Ondiek. The lanky midfielder is a noted box to box midfielder. Ondiek who is 26, signed a three year contract.

Gor Mahia have released midfielder Anthony Mbugua according to CEO Ludovick Aduda.

“We have talked to him and he has decided to leave. It is a mutual agreement because he wants to play and unfortunately we cannot offer that. We have allowed him to sign for another club and want to wish him well in his future endevours.” said Mbugua to goal.com

Mbugua, whose nickname is “Baggio”, joined Kogalo in June of 2016. But he could not get any playing time under either Ze Maria or Dylan Kerr.

One player who is yet to agree to a new contract is George Odhiambo Blackberry. But Aduda says that talks are at an advanced stage.

“Talks are at an advanced stage. We broke for Christmas and after that we will finalize the negotiations. Everything looks positive and we at hopeful he will agree to extend his stay with us,” he said according to Futaa.com.

Blackberry has resurrected his career from the doldrums. He rejoined Kogalo in 2014 after failures in Denmark, Finland, Azebaijan and Tanzania. He had a stellar 2017 that saw him named midfielder of the year and regain his place in the national team.

“Odhiambo was one of our best players in 2017 and we are happy that he’s rediscovering his form once again. At Gor Mahia we want to have the best playing unit around and as such we have to retain good players like Berry,” continued Aduda.

The International Transfer certificate of Ephrem Guikan has been received by Gor Mahia.
“Guikan is due in the country aboard Ethiopian Airline on Tuesday morning. We have managed to secure his release letter and the ITC and are now good to go. The striker has signed a two year contract and will be a good addition to our squad as we strive to do better in 2018.” said Aduda to goal.com

The Ivorian will compete for playing time with Tuyisenge, Kagere, and other strikers.

Gor Mahia are said to have agreed to terms with left full back Isaac “Lefty” Kipyegon from Zoo FC on a three-year deal. Kipyegon was in the Harambee Stars squad that recently won the CECAFA senior challenge cup.

The deal with Wesley Onguso Arasa fll through after the player made exhorbitant demands.

“Onguso insisted on one million transfer fee so the deal flopped because we were not ready to part with such a huge sum for a defender,” a source told Soka25east.

Earlier on, Gor Mahia are said to have signed another defender, Charles Momanyi from Kakamega Homeboyz.

“We’ve received Momanyi’s release letter from Kakamega Homeboyz and I can confirm that he’s now our player. Momanyi is a good young central defender and his addition to the team will definitely bring competition to our backline which is a good thing for any top club,” CEO Lordvick Aduda told Futaa.com

A Third signing is Lawrence Juma. The Nzoia United playmaker was a contender for midfielder of the year. His coach Bernard Mwalala confirmed the news.

“Lawi is a great and a disciplined boy,he’s destined for greatness.As a coach ,it’s sad to see such a player leave but once a player says he wants to progress his career elsewhere we have no choice but to let him go,we wish him the very best at Gor Mahia,” said Mwalala.

Meanwhile Humphrey Mieno, who had been a target of Gor Mahia in 2016, has now been released by Tusker and could be a target for Kogalo.

Gor Mahia are said to be interested in Tanzanian Left Back, Mohamed Hussein “Tshabalala”.  He is said to have thoroughly impressed Dylan Kerr while he was coaching Simba in Tanzania.

“Tshabalala” was voted Simba player of the year for 2016 and has been voted Tanzania player of the month several times.

He has said he would be interested in a move to Kogalo depending on the offer.

Gor Mahia is a big club and if they are interested in my services then I can’t turn it down,” he said to goal.com.

Nevertheless he signed a three year contract with Simba in 2016 which keeps him under contract until 2019. Thus a move would require a hefty transfer fee.

Gor Mahia are also said to be chasing the services of Ulinzi attacker Samwel Onyango. His performances in 2018 saw him earn a call up to the national team.

Other reports suggest that Gor Mahia have already identified seven players who will be dropped to make way for other new signings.

Meanwhile defender Harun Shakava has picked up an injury which will rule him out of the upcoming CECAFA senior challenge cup. Also missing the tournament will be the Rwandese trio of Kagere, Tuyisenge and Mugiraneza. They were left out when the Rwandese squad was named.

Guikan in action against Tusker in January

Gor Mahia are in negotiations with striker Ephrem Guikan.  The Ivorian who plays for AS Port Louis of Mauritius is well known to Kenyan football fans after his double sent Tusker FC crashing out of the 2017 Africa champions league.

CEO Ludovick Aduda confirmed the news.

“It is true that we are talking to Guikan over a possible move to Gor Mahia.  The player is currently in the country and was in attendance as Gor Mahia were crowned champions on Saturday in Kisumu. Everything looks positive for now and I can promise that an agreement will be reached soon. We are working on giving him a two year contract and should be part of us before the start of next season.” said Aduda to goal.com

Given that Gor Mahia have already reached the limit of foreign players they can sign, the club would need to release one foreign player should the deal go through.

Care needs to be taken

It is not clear whether this player is any better than the current set of strikers that Kogalo has. The mere fact that he is from CIV does not automatically better. His video CV is very sparse. Also there is no indication of whether he has undergone tryouts, medical exams or whether coach Kerr approves.

Ephrem Guikan Video highlights