Harambee Stars forward Michael Olunga who plays for Japan side Kashiwa Reysol has joined his Harambee Stars teammates in France after being released by his Japanese side following Sebastian Migne’s pressure for the ide to release him ahead of the AFCON competitions that kick off in Egypt.
It was earlier feared Kenya’s front-man would miss the continental tournament as Kashiwa Reysol had supposedly rejected his request to feature for his National team at the African Cup of Nations (AFCON) as the League in the country was yet not over and the Kenyan was becoming a crucial part of the club.
Following Jesse Were’s failure to make it in the Migne’s call-up that has received a lot of castigations, Olunga has been seen as the trusted striker to get the goals at the tournament.
The immediate option would have been Allan Wanga but the Kakamega Homeboyz striker and deputy manager have since been dropped from the squad.
The coach is said to have mapped out an elaborate training program for each of his players in a bid to gauge their fitness and fine tune the technical and tactical formations ahead of Kenya’s Group ‘C’ assignments at the Africa Cup of Nations versus Senegal, Algeria, and Tanzania.
The French tactician had recently rejected a request by Harambee Stars captain Victor Wanyama who was unused during the finals of UEFA Champions League finals to rest for four days before linking up with the national team. The midfielder arrived in France on Tuesday evening for training with fellow teammates.
However, now that Olunga has been released, the Harambee Stars front-line can now be termed complete. The Kashiwa Reysol striker is the most trusted Harambee Stars goalscorer as Kenyans, who refer to him as ‘Engineer’, feel confident when he is leading the team’s attack.
The 25-year-old attacker has been a key player in Harambee Stars’ AFCON qualification campaign scoring a stunning screamer against Ethiopia at the Moi International Sports Centre Kasarani to put Kenya ahead in the first half of the match.
Michael Olunga became the first Kenyan to score a hat-trick in La Liga when he came off the bench for Girona in their 6-0 thrashing of Las Palmas. pic.twitter.com/piFl8msd8V
— SuperSport 🏉🏆 (@SuperSportTV) January 15, 2018
Harambee Stars are slated to face Madagascar in a friendly match on Friday which the coach says will give him the opportunity to check his squad with the whole team now training together but Olunga is likely going to be rested.