Everton haven’t had a 40-goal-a-season striker since World Cup Golden Boot winner Gary Lineker in 1985/86 but that’s how many times Michael Olunga found the net for his club in 2022/23.
Superstar captain of the Kenyan national team with 22 goals in 49 internationals, on face value, Olunga seems like something of a potential left field option for the Blues to solve their scoring woes but the ECHO understands his name has been discussed by those inside Finch Farm. Nairobi-based reporter David Kwalimwa of Nation.Africa admits it’s the kind of story that will produce significant excitement in his homeland.
Everton visited Kenya back in 2019 when they suffered a penalty shoot-out defeat to local side Kariobangi Sharks in the SportPesa Super Cup at a time when they were sponsored by the betting firm but might they now be pondering a move for the nation’s current biggest football talent? Kwalimwa told the ECHO: “Michael will fancy a move to the English Premier League. He has hoped for this chance his entire life.
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“In 2016, he recorded a video asking then Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger to sign him. That shows his confidence.
“Should the move to Everton happen, he will be pumped up to deliver as almost all Kenyans watch the competition week in week out. His experience in La Liga, physical frame and goalscoring record suggests he can cope with the demands of the competition.”
With just 34 goals in 38 matches during 2022/23 and main strikers Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Neal Maupay netting just one goal apiece from open play in 44 games in the competition between them, Everton are in desperate need of additional fire power and bringing in at least a couple of new attacking options is their transfer priority this summer along with the full-back area. With funds apparently tight and Financial Fair Play restrictions still biting, free agents are expected to feature and Olunga’s deal at his current employers Qatar Stars League champions Al-Dulhail expires at the end of this month.
Kwalimwa said: “Despite his successes in Qatar where he finished as the league’s top scorer in the past two seasons, I doubt Michael will remain at Duhail. Clubs in Qatar and Saudi Arabia are notorious for employing players on short contracts and I also believe the player is keen on a fresh challenge as he heads towards the sunset of his career.
“The season ended a few weeks ago and it is telling he is yet to be offered an extension. That said, his agent has been active and Michael has so far been linked with a number of clubs in Europe and Asia.”
While there are obvious doubts over Olunga given the leagues he’s been operating in and his relatively advanced age, he has been a prolific scorer for most of his career. After smashing in 29 goals in his final season in Kenya with Gor Mahia – the team who Everton faced twice in 2017 and 2018 – he netted 12 times in 28 matches for Swedish side Djurgardens in 2016.
A move in 2017 to the now defunct Guizhou in the lucrative Chinese Super League didn’t work out and although Olunga was mostly underwhelming in a 17-match loan spell with Girona in Spain, he became the first player to plunder a hat-trick for the club in La Liga when he achieved the feat in a 6-0 romp against Las Palmas with all of his goals for the club coming in the space of 22 minutes. Olunga then embarked on a second stint in the Far East where he rediscovered his scoring touch with Japan’s Kashiwa Reysol, bagging eight goals in a single second division game against Kyoto Sanga who were trounced 13-1.
He’d finish the campaign with 29 goals but then netted just as many the following season in 2020 with his team now a top flight club and as well as winning the Golden Boot he became the first African player to be named J League MVP (most valuable player). Olunga has kept up his free-scoring form in Doha with Al-Duhail through increasing returns of 20, 30 and now 40 over the last three seasons, being crowned champions in the latter under the coaching of former Premier League striker and Argentina international Hernan Crespo.
Kwalimwa said: “Michael knows where the back of the net is. From his time in the Kenyan Premier League, he has been a reliable finisher and thanks to his move to Sweden he received some crucial development tips.
“He struggled a little bit in China and did not enjoy much game time in Spain. He has been such a success in Japan and Qatar but critics suggest it is because of the quality of these competitions.
“Michael is tall (6ft 4in) and possesses a solid aerial threat. His left foot is the strongest and he can create space and shoot from whichever angle and I would liken his playing style to that of Robin van Persie.”
Indeed, van Persie is known to be Olunga’s role model and it’s perhaps telling that the Dutchman was also 29 when he got his big move to Manchester United. Perhaps the player known as “The Engineer” by Kenyan football fans because he studied for geospatial engineering at the Technical University of Kenya might be about to spread his wings and take off after a long wait?
Kwalimwa said: “Michael is presently the most popular football player in Kenya and he is also among the most popular athletes. Kenya is renowned for her prowess in athletics and Sevens Rugby but not football in the grand scheme of things.
“Olunga is certainly among the top five most successful footballers of all-time here, alongside Victor Wanyama, Macdonald Mariga, Dennis Oliech and Mike Okoth (the father of former Liverpool striker Divock Origi).
“Michael’s influence stems from the fact he is a local boy who received his football education in Kenya. He also inspires many footballers and athletes who dream of making it to the top.”
He added: “Michael is reserved but very intelligent. He did not complete his engineering course as the offer to China was too tempting but he recently mentioned his wish to be a pilot.
“That aside, you can see his intelligence in the way he makes his runs on the pitch, and conducts interviews.”
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