Nairobi, Kenya: Troubled Tusker midfielder Peter Opiyo has agreed on personal terms with AFC Leopards paving the way for him to join the club.
Peter Opiyo
According to Leopards Secretary General Winstone Kituyi, what remains is to agree terms with Tusker to allow the player to move and he complained the brewers are taking too long to quote their price.
“We met Opiyo a few weeks ago and agreed on personal terms. He is basically our player. We are waiting for Tusker to put the price, but they are taking too long.
“We do not expect any problems because the player has six months remaining on his contract and therefore do not expect to be asked to pay a huge fee,” said Kituyi.
Tusker coach Robert Matano confirmed he is ready to release the player after Opiyo requested to be allowed to leave in June.
“Personally, I have advised the club management to let him go. He is a great player and we should not stand in his way. We want him to leave amicably so that he can come back in future if there is need for that,” said Matano.
The player has had a frosty relationship with Matano, a situation that kept him out of the Tusker line-up for the last two months.
Before joining Tusker, Opiyo was at Gor Mahia. He has also previously played for Thika United in the Kenyan Premier League (KPL).
In a related development, Tusker has released four players for various reasons ahead of the June transfer window.
The players have been let go either due to a need to reduce the squad as well as non-performance.
Those released are former Thika United striker Moses Arita, midfielder Edwin Ombasa, defenders Jeremiah Bright and Maurice Odipo.
“We are restructuring the team to have a manageable number of players considering we no longer have continental engagements.
“Furthermore, some of the players have not performed and we cannot continue to keep them. We have to let them go to look for other clubs,” said Matano.
Matano said Arita had let himself down by failing to score since being signed at the beginning of the season.
“We signed him to score goals for us but three months down the line, he is yet to do that. He is not a young player for us to give him time and so we have to release him,” he revealed.
Matano said no decision has been made yet on how many or which players to bring on board when the transfer window opens, pointing out that discussions are on-going.
“We want to strengthen several areas in the team and the process of identifying the required players is on-going,” he said.
By BS Mulavi, The Standard
