Benni McCarthy Outlines Plan to Turn Harambee Stars Players into EPL and La Liga Material

Harambee Stars coach Benni McCarthy has opened up on how he is working towards making Kenyan players ripe for the top leagues in the world like English Premier League, La Liga and the Bundesliga.

Kenyan players have struggled to hit such heights with Victor Wanyama the only one from the country to ever play in the prestigious Premier League while his brother McDonald Mariga played in La Liga and Italian Serie A and Dennis Oliech plying his trade in the French Ligue 1. Harambee Stars captain Michael Olunga also played in La Liga.

However, McCarthy believes there is plenty of good talent in the country that can play in those leagues but with the right guidance, training and nurturing.

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“You want to take yourself into a level where you can play in Spain or England and this is the next step for Kenyans that played in CHAN,” McCarthy said on Sporty TV.

“So, the intensity of the training sessions become much more demanding and tough because I think the talent there. We can build a really good team from local and the players playing at international level,” said McCarthy, who is pinning his hopes on modern training methods to help Kenyan players reach such levels.

The South African coach, however, feels training alone is not enough but the players need great exposure by playing against top-level opposition like their recent World Cup qualifiers and friendly matches.

He hopes his players have picked up valuable lessons from their recent matches while he is looking at the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations as the perfect opportunity for them to market themselves to the top leagues in Europe.

“It will take time because to move from playing CHAN to AFCON and World Cup qualifiers is really a step up and the players have to step up and be brave because it can be a life-changing opportunity for all of them that play in the local league in Kenya because when you do well at international stage, you will be looked at by La Liga teams,” McCarthy further said.

“Hopefully from the World Cup qualifiers and the AFCON coming in Kenya in 2027, we will have way more Kenyan players playing in bigger leagues in Spain, Premier League and Bundesliga.”

McCarthy’s contract with Kenya ends in 2027 after that year’s AFCON and he hopes to have produced some quality players ripe for the European market by that time.