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The Kenya captain has been linked with a move to Everton, but may not meet the requirements needed to play in the Premier League.
After a stellar season scoring goals for fun at Al Duhail SC in the Qatari Stars League (QSL), Michael Olunga is not short of suitors, with clubs fighting for his signature.
The former Gor Mahia forward has been the subject of various speculation linking him to different clubs including Dutch top-tier side FC Utrecht, Turkish giants Fenerbahçe, and Scottish giants Rangers, are also rumored to be hunting down the lanky striker, who clinched the Qatari Golden Boot last season.
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08:11 - 08.06.2023
FOOTBALL English Premier League regulars open discussions to sign Michael Olunga
The in-demand forward's contract expries on Friday 30 June, after which he will become a free agent.
Olunga has been the subject of various speculations linking him to different clubs, with the Liverpool Echo this week reporting that his name has internally been mentioned at Everton.
However, Olunga may fail to qualify for a work permit to move to the English Premier League, just like MacDonald Mariga in 2009.
One may ask, why can Olunga not qualify for a British Work Permit to play in the Premier League despite being on an unstoppable run of form in Asia, and yet Victor Wanyama managed to play for Southampton and Tottenham Hotspur?
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14:28 - 09.06.2023
FOOTBALL Michael Olunga breaks silence on Everton transfer links
The Kenyan striker has been linked with a summer move after an impressive campaign in Qatar.
Pulse Sports breaks down the reason why.
Requirements
Although the entry requirements have been altered in order to make it easier than it might have been for English football clubs to sign overseas players post-Brexit, the Kenyan international cannot secure a direct move to play in the most elite league, arguably, thanks to his Governing Body Endorsement (GBE) points score, of 10.
GBE is a points-based system that the English FA uses to gauge the eligibility of foreign players to qualify for a work permit to play in England. You need at least 15 points to qualify for a conditional permit, but Olunga only has 10 points.
14:28 - 09.06.2023
FOOTBALL Michael Olunga breaks silence on Everton transfer links
The Kenyan striker has been linked with a summer move after an impressive campaign in Qatar.
So what are the entry requirements? There are different guidelines for men’s football, women’s football, managers, assistant managers, directors of football, and performance managers, but all are based on similar criteria.
The focus here will be on the Men’s Players' Criteria. These guidelines alone consist of a 36-page document, so rather than break it down on a player by player, or situation-by-situation basis, what follows is an attempt at an overview.
Easy Pass
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08:46 - 10.06.2023
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Stars are scheduled to play against the hosts, Pakistan and Djibouti in a round-robin mini-tournament.
Players need to accumulate a total of 15 points from six different tables using a reference period of 12 months prior to the date of application for a new player’s work permit.
Players playing regularly for their national team are almost guaranteed to meet the entry requirements and will be awarded a governing body endorsement. They will, therefore, be able to play for the club without going into the more detailed criteria.
Players from countries in the top 50 of FIFA rankings qualify for an auto pass provided they play a certain percentage of the international matches that their country engages in for the two years before the transfer for seniors, and the past 12 months for players under 21 years. Kenya is ranked at position 102 according to the latest release by FIFA in April 2023.
Although Kenya have only played one match since the ban was lifted, Olunga has appeared in all of the available international fixtures since sealing his move to Al Duhail in 2021, meaning he gets two points.
If the player does not meet the Auto Pass criteria set out in Table 1, their club football is then taken into account, again based on the percentage of minutes played and the perceived level at which those minutes are played.
A big change is that it is now far easier for a club to get a work permit for a South American player now than it was under the previous entry requirements.
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09:22 - 10.06.2023
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Its appears that, in trying not to make it as difficult as it might have been to sign players from the EU post-Brexit, the authorities have also made it easier to sign players from other continents, especially South America.
This is due to the fact that the Copa Libertadores and Copa Sudamerica are considered the same ‘Band’ of continental competition (Band 1 and 2 — the highest) as their European equivalents, the Champions League and Europa League.
Michael Olunga has been playing for Qatar side Al Duhail, who reached the semi-final of this season’s Asian Champions League, meaning he gets one point for playing in a Band three Continental league and two points for appearing in over 90% of all continental competitions
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Club Bands
The list below shows the categorisation of domestic and continental competition bands:
Band 1 leagues: English Premier League, Bundesliga, La Liga, Serie A and Ligue 1.
Band 1 continental competition: UEFA Champions League and the Copa Libertadores.
Band 2 leagues: Portuguese Primeira Liga, Eredivisie, Belgian First Division A, Turkish Super Lig and English Championship.
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17:56 - 23.05.2023
STARS ABROAD Brazilian giants tempt Michael Olunga with Ksh55.4 million salary
The forward can join the club on a free transfer in the off-season transfer window.
Band 2 continental competition: UEFA Europa League and the Copa Sudamerica.
Band 3 leagues: Russian Premier League, Campeonato Brasileiro Série A, Argentine Primera División, Liga MX and the Scottish Premiership.
Band 3 continental competition: any other continental competition not in Band 1 or 2.
Band 4 leagues: Czech First League, Croatian First Football League, Swiss Super League, Segunda División (Spain), 2. Bundesliga (Germany), Ukrainian Premier League, Greek Superleague, Colombian Categoría Primera A, Major League Soccer (USA and Canada), Austrian Bundesliga, and Ligue 2 (France).
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18:31 - 26.05.2023
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Band 5 leagues: Serbian SuperLiga, Danish Superliga, Polish Ekstraklasa, Slovenian
PrvaLiga, Chilean Primera División, Uruguayan Primera División and Chinese Super League
Band 6: Any other league.
The tables below show the rankings for league bands and the points accumulated depending on the percentage of playing time a respective player gets.
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Olunga plays for a band six league club, Al Duhail, and has appeared in over 90 percent of the club’s possible league minutes, meaning he gets another two points, which now makes it five.
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He also won the league title with the club, meaning he has another one point, which makes it eight. He gets another two points for appearing in a match-day squad of the league, which means his tally stands at ten work-permit points.
Can Olunga appeal to quaify for a permit?
The answer is yes. For players who score between 10 and 14, the club seeking to sign such a player can appeal tothe Exceptions Panel to accord such a player GBE if they can convince the panel that the player had exceptional circumstances which prevented him from achieving 15 points.
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