Kenya Premier League returnees Nairobi City Stars is keen to retain all the 18 players who helped the club back in the top tier .
Club coordinator Samson Otieno said the number could go up should a few more out of contract players chose to remain depending on negotiations.
“The core unit of City Stars is still intact heading to next season. This is important as it guarantees us continuity,” Otieno told the club’s website.
“When we started out last season, a number of players were on one-year engagements but mid-way through, we extended those contracts as Premier League appeared a reality. Just two teenagers – striker Vincent ‘Jamaica’ Otieno and midfielder Elvis Ojiambo started out with long term deals,” he said.
Some of the players who extended their contracts were defender Wycliffe Otieno who added another year as well as midfielder Anthony Kimani, long serving defender Calvin Masawa, defensive midfielder Charles Otieno Oduro and striker Davis Agesa who committed to a further two years.
Others who opted to stay for two more years included offensive mid Oliver Maloba, striker Ebrima Sanneh, defenders Salim ‘Shitu’ Abdalla and Edwin Buliba. Goalkeeper Ronny Kagunzi and left-back Wesley Onguso were the latest with each adding a year on the contract.
He said January arrivals Peter Opiyo and Azizi Okaka have a season to go while keeper Jacob Osano, returning winger John Kamau and striker Ezekiel Odera have two more seasons.
“We have some players whose contracts have since expired but the coach has hinted he’d still want to keep some of them longer should they agree. Noah Abich, Eric Ochieng, Tedian Esilaba, Kevin Okumu, David Gateri and Jimmy Bageya are some of those players whose contracts have expired,” he revealed
Otieno added: “Despite having the core team intact, we are also in the market to fill up some positions such as goalkeeping after lead custodian Levis Opiyo officially left the club and just in case some of the out of contract players chose to stay.”
He said they would have concluded their engagement was it not for coronavirus pandemic.