Several professionals active in Germany are in the sights of the Kenyan association. National coach Benni McCarthy wants to court one Cologne player in particular.
Next year, Kenya will host the Africa Cup together with Uganda and Tanzania – and may be looking to strengthen its squad with players from Germany. National coach Benni McCarthy, who once played professionally in England and Portugal, wants to recruit Cologne’s left winger Linton Maina in the coming months.
The 26-year-old is the son of a Kenyan, but only played for the DFB’s youth teams from the U16s to the U20s. McCarthy now wants to explore the possibility of having Maina play for Kenya in the future. The South African in the service of the East African country wants to travel to Germany soon – also to convince Maina to play for the country of his father’s birth.
In addition to Maina, Chemwor and Gitau are also in his sights
Maina is not the only professional McCarthy wants to recruit, however. Talented striker Sadiki Chemwor, currently still playing for Bayern Youth and under contract with Eintracht Frankfurt from July, is also on the Kenyan list, as is attacker Andre Gitau. The 19-year-old also has US citizenship and currently plays for Mainz 05’s second team.
McCarthy’s efforts to attract professionals active in Europe are intended to put Kenya in a better position for the Africa Cup in the summer of 2027. Kenya recently failed to qualify for the Africa Cup and the World Cup on several occasions. Now Kenya is set to host – and wants to break new ground to do so.
