Otieno grateful to Mathare as he departs

New Sofapaka signing Daniel ‘Van Persie’ Otieno has taken to social media to thank his former club Mathare United as he prepares to feature for the 2009 league champions from next season.

Otieno was among the 17 newly signed players unveiled by the Batoto ba Mungu on Wednesday morning, alongside new coach Francis Haringingo. The other signed players include Abdoul Razak Fiston, Oliver Maloba, Mousa Omar, Khalid Jumaan, Baron Bchieng, Darius Msagha, Ian Simiyu, Christian Lubulu, Lucky Mrabu, John Ndirangu, Answar Shamuni, Andre Kalama, Jacob Osano, Stephen Otieno, Edwin Lutta, and Brankline Masibo.

Sofapaka went for mass signings after losing a huge chunk of the players who were part of the team. Among them is Otieno, who has played for Mathare United since 2020 and has become a key player for the 2008 league champions.

United’s relegation, however, forced Otieno and other key players to seek fresh challenges elsewhere. The player, along with captain Khalid Jumaan, opted to play under the Burundian coach, who will be out to turn the team’s fortunes around after what was largely an underwhelming 2022–23 campaign.

The player has taken to his Twitter account to thank the Mathare fraternity for giving him a chance to play for the club.

Meanwhile, Mathare are plotting their bounce back to the top tier. They recently appointed Leonard Odipo as their new head coach.

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