Leopards pocket Sh5m from Shichenje’s move to Sweden

AFC Leopards have receiving slightly over Sh5 million from AIK Fotboll following Collins Shichenje’s move to the Swedish top league side.

In 2020, Shichenje was considered one of the most promising players in Kenya, prompting AFC Leopards to put a Sh15-million price tag on the youngster who had started attracting interest from clubs in Europe.

Shichenje was officially unveiled as an AIK player on Wednesday on a four-year contract.

The midfielder, who joined the 12-time Swedish champions for Sh5 million, is expected to make his debut on Saturday when AIK, currently playing in the Allsvenskan  -- as the Swedish league is known, leaders host eighth placed Sirius at Friends Arena in Stockholm.

AIK are on 19 points while the latter have 13.

AFC Leopards assistant coach Tom Juma said Shichenje is a disciplined player who is talented and has the potential to go far.

“He is a good learner who has massive room for improvement. He had stabilised our squad and honestly, it was hard for us to let him go, but we had no option since it was an opportunity for him to grow his career.”

The former Kakamega High School player, who can also play as a central defender, will be donning jersey number 29 at AIK.

Shichenje returned to Leopards in February after a six-month professional stint with Greece side PAOK Thessaloniki. His Leopards contract allowed him to leave if he got another deal outside the country.

POAK had engaged the Kenya international in April last year, but travel was made impossible by the Covid-19 restrictions.

The highly-rated midfielder, who has been on the radar of AIK scouts, becomes the third Kenyan to don AIK colours, after internationals Eric “Marcelo” Ouma and Henry Meja who played for Gor Mahia and Tusker FC respectively.

“With Collins, we get a physically fit midfielder who proved his mettle at AFC Leopards. In March, chief scout Tobias Ackerman visited Africa and watched him in Action and was impressed,” the clubs sports director Henri Jurelius said on their  official website.

“Coming to AIK is like a dream for me,” said Shichenje, who revealed Ouma and Meja had a hand in his switch to Sweden.

Shichenje Signed for Ingwe in 2019 after an impressive showing at the Kenya Secondary Schools Sports Associations  ((KSSA) games.

Shichenje was featuring for the famed Kakamega High School ‘s Maroon Commandoes.

He was in the Brendan Mwinamo and Eliud Omukuya-coached school team that won the 2018 KSSA Airtel Rising Stars tournament. He was later exposed by AFC Leopards during top tier league matches, making his debut for the national team on March 13, 2019 against South Sudan at Nyayo National Stadium.