Olunga made good career move to monied Al Duhail

A lot has been said and written about the move by Michael “Engineer” Olunga from Japan’s Kashiwa Reysol to Qatar’s Al Duhail SC.

Looks like opinion is divided over the matter and even as many are of the opinion that the former Gor Mahia player made a good move, an equal number believes Olunga should not have gone to a “retirees” league as they call it. In the eyes of this group, Olunga should have gone to Europe, the English Premier League to be specific.

I believe it is not too late for me to wade into the controversy. Not that it will make any difference because as it stands Olunga is already in the Middle East and has played a match for his new club. However, I want to state that going to Qatar was the best move for Olunga.

To begin with, no club in Europe tabled any offer for the young man. So saying that he should have gone to Europe is misplaced. Last time I checked, moving to a club is a whole lot of ritual involving the club, the player and a host of agents in between.

If any European club came up with such an offer to Olunga’s agent Jacob “Ghost” Mulee, then the good man must have kept quiet about it, which I highly doubt because all through Olunga’s career, “Ghost” has done his best to ensure the player gets the long end of the stick.

So when the naysayers are adamant that Olunga should have gone to Europe, in my mind I am seeing a situation where Olunga should have packed his bags, head to Tokyo’s Narita International Airport, board a plane to Manchester and go to the Manchester United or Manchester City club houses and say he is looking for a job.

I don’t know how the big clubs over there do it but I am seeing a situation in which Olunga would have been greeted with “Hakuna Kazi” (no vacancy) notice.

In the absence of such an offer I believe Olunga did the next good thing by snapping up the Qatar deal. As has been pointed out, Olunga is heading towards the big 30 and if I am to be extremely generous, I would give him 10 years at most to play football.

It is good idea that he has the chance to make money and he should make all the money he can when he still has got some oil in his knees. I am in total agreement with another Kenyan pace setter Dennis Oliech who has advised Olunga to take the money and run.

In my honest opinion, by going to Europe, Olunga would not have earned as much as what the Qataris are offering. Number two, it would have been more of an egoistic trip just to fill in his CV that I played in England or Spain. Number three, I am not sure if he would be getting the kind of playtime he is sure to get in Qatar.

Finally, Olunga now has the chance to showcase his talent against the best in the world as his club will be taking part in the World Club Championship, which is a club version of the World Cup. Can it get better than that?

Still with Oliech, and I believe Olunga would better follow the advice the older player doled out. “He will have to get a strong agent and negotiate a good contract. When I was there, most club owners would delay the salary of a player when his performance dipped, there wasn’t much world-class management. It is also very hot over there and he will have to adapt fast,” Oliech was quoted as saying in this newspaper.

This is something Olunga should keep in mind each and every day. I wish him all the best.