Gor Mahia Official Lifts Lid on Big Call That Saved Michael Olunga’s Career After ‘Lazy’ Claim By Ex-Coach

Michael Olunga made a name for himself at Gor Mahia but according to a club official, he would never have flourished had the then coach had his way.

Olunga joined Gor Mahia ahead of the 2015 season, from the now defunct Thika United as one of the promising young strikers in the Kenyan league.

He had also had a stint with Tusker FC but both clubs only utilised him on one-year loan deals while he was still on the books of Liberty Sports Academy.

Olunga joined a Gor Mahia team that had won back-to-back league titles and was looking to take the next step but according to Gor Mahia Administration Manager Ronald Ngala, then coach Frank Nuttal did not welcome the young striker with open arms.

“With Olunga, we even had a quarrel with the coach then Frank Nuttal when he wanted to send him away,” Ngala said on Radio Generation. “He said that he [Olunga] looked lanky and lazy but we told Nuttal that; ‘please try him and you will not regret.’”

That tough call from the Gor Mahia hierarchy was vindicated as Olunga would go on to fire K’Ogalo to another league title, emerging as the top scorer with 19 goals, to be crowned the league’s Most Valuable Player.

He would move to Sweden where he joined Djurgardens IF and he has never looked back. The striker had a short stint in China with Guizhou Zhicheng, who loaned him out to Spanish La Liga side Girona, where he would make history by scoring a hat-trick.

A highly successful two-and-a-half-year stint in Japan then followed for Olunga who fired Kashiwa Reysol to promotion to the top flight, having been their top scorer, and in 2020, he took the Japanese league by storm.

Olunga finished as the top scorer in the 2020 Japanese J1 League with 28 goals, winning the Golden Boot and the J-League 2020 MVP, the first African player to achieve the feat.

He would move to Qatar to join Al Duhail in January 2021 and at the club, he became an ultimate legend, lasting four-and-a-half years, and leaving after winning multiple trophies and also as the club’s all-time top scorer with 130 goals.

The Harambee Stars captain is currently playing for Qatari side Al Arabi who he joined as a free agent in 2025.