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Olunga closing in on transfer to Japanese League side


Harambee Stars striker Michael Olunga could be set for a move to Japan to join Kashiwa Reysol, it has been reported in the Asian country.

A tweet by Fútbol Japonés, which describes itself as an account about the Professional Soccer League of Japan, has also announced the forward’s probable move to the J-League.

“Michael Olunga (transferred last season to Girona by Guizhou) could sign with Kashiwa Reysol,” Fútbol Japonés tweeted.

If the deal goes through, the Harambee Stars striker will be the latest big name player to move to the J-League where Andreas Iniesta, Lukas Podolski and Fernando Torres currently ply their trade.

Olunga has been on the fringes of Chinese side Guizhou Zhicheng, which he joined in a record Sh450 million deal from Sweden top flight side IF Djurgardens in 2016.

ON LOAN

Despite scoring consistently while on national team duty, the 24-year-old has not been part of Coach Dan Petrescu’s plans and has not been registered as part of the first team squad for domestic assignments this season.

Infact, he was loaned to Spain top flight club Girona last term and despite scoring a hat-trick and registering an assist in a league match against Las Palmas, he was not offered a permanent deal.

Nairobi News understands the player was recently in the country and used that opportunity to apply for a Visa at the Japan Embassy.

Kashiwa finished in 13th position on the 18-team Japan’s J-league last season and the team’s technical bench will be hoping the impending arrival of Olunga will fire the team to the top half of the table.