Ethiopia based midfielder Sunday Mutuku has expressed desire to play for the Kenya senior men’s national team the Harambee Stars.
Mutuku, 22, has made a name for himself with the Ethiopian Premier League outfit Sidama Bunna in his first season, but is a bit worried those back at home in Kenya may not notice because the league is not on television.
Formerly of Kakamega Homeboyz in the Kenyan Premier League and Shabana FC in the Kenyan second division, Mutuku arrived in Ethiopia in the 2016 summer to a low key start.
However, he has since burst into the limelight and is now a mainstay for the coffee makers.
He has curved his niche as an organized ball distributor in the middle of the pack. His ability to initiate forward surge with panache has made him a standout figure in the league – earning him many admirers.
“It all boils down to hard work and focus on my dreams,” he told Soka25east.com Ethiopian correspondent Firew Asrat.
“Playing for the national team is my dream. It is difficult for the Harambee Stars coach Stanley Okumbi to see me as the Ethiopian league isn’t on TV, but I’m hopeful I will represent my country someday,” Mutuku added.
He appreciates EPL’s “total football” approach and the good infrastructure in the country, nonetheless, he feels the league administrators should do more to market the topflight beyond the country.
The local media links Mutuku to moves to the country’s biggest clubs St. George and Ethiopian Coffee. South African clubs have also been mentioned to be on his chase. He is however non-committal on his future.
“If anything, you will be the first to know,” Mutuku left it at that.
With two rounds of fixtures left to the end of the current EPL season, and the title gone with St. George, Sidama are third in the 16-team log with 48 points, and are eying a second place finish.
The club is hoping to play the lucrative CAF Champions League if St. George go all the way to the quarters in this season’s campaign and they finish runners-up in the EPL.
