Starting his career at the Liberty Sports Academy in the Nairobi County League in 2012, the towering Olunga, nicknamed ‘Engineer’ has become a household name in the football world.
In the just-concluded season, Olunga, who features for Al Duhail SC in the Qatar Stars League, and had missed six weeks of action owing to a knee injury, finished with 28 goals and three assists from 32 matches in all competitions.
His impressive performance saw him ranked as the fifth Africa’s highest goal scorer across top leagues in Europe in 2023/24, one place above former Liverpool and current Al Nassr forward Sadio Mane of Senegal, who managed 25 goals and 15 assists in 54 matches.
Guinea striker Serhou Guirassy, who turns out for Bundesliga club VfB Stuttgart, tops the list after scoring 31 goals, recording two assists in 38 matches, Egypt forward and captain Mohamed Salah, is second after his 30 goals for Liverpool and 17 assists in 50 games.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang of Gabon and Ligue 1 club Marseille came third after notching 30 goals and 11 assists in 52 matches. At the same time, Morocco international Abderazak Hamdallah of Al-Ittihad in the Saudi Pro League is fourth after finding the back of the net 29 times, assisting four times from 38 games.
After Mane in sixth is DR Congo forward Simon Banza of Primeira Liga club Braga, who came seventh with 23 goals and five assists in 50 games, the same number of goals as Youssef En-Nesyri of Morocco and LaLiga club Sevilla but the latter provided three assists in 51 games.
Nigeria’s Victor Boniface managed 21 goals and 10 assists in 34 games for Bundesliga champions Bayer Leverkusen, the same number of goals as Ghana international and West Ham United player Mohammed Kudus, who chipped in with seven assists in 55 games.
How did Olunga achieve his latest success?
Olunga’s first league goal came in the 2-1 away win against Al Markhiya at Al Janoub Stadium on September 28th, 2023. He had failed to score in the season opener against Al Gharafa which Duhail lost 3-2. He scored in consecutive matches as the Red Knights cruised to a 3-1 victory against Al Arabi.
Olunga then scored a double as Duhail beat Al Rayyan 3-2. He travelled to represent Kenya in the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers and featured in the 2-1 defeat against Gabon and then scored a brace as Harambee Stars recovered to smash Seychelles 5-0 in their second Group F match.
On return to club duty, Olunga scored a brace as Duhail defeated Istiklol in the Asian Champions League but failed to score in the next league fixture against Umm Salal, which his side lost 1-0. His troubles started when he picked an injury as Duhail wrapped up their Asian Champions League tour with a 2-1 win over Iranian side Persepolis on December 5th, 2023.
During the game, Olunga had come off the bench to replace Mohamed Muntari, who had scored Duhail's first goal, in the 63rd minute but the Kenyan star lasted until the 83rd minute, when he limped off the pitch having scored the winner.
The injury saw Olunga’s struggling Duhail suffering six defeats and one draw from the seven matches that he missed in all competitions and coach Christophe Galtier admitted his absence was being felt.
“We still suffer from absences, the most prominent of which is the team striker Michael (Olunga)… however, we will reach the appropriate formation for this match and choose the elements that will help the team achieve the desired result,” said Galtier as quoted by Duhail’s official website.
After recovery, he returned to action as Duhail threw away a 2-0 lead to draw 2-2 against Al Arabi. However, in the next match against Al Gharafa, Olunga scored but could not prevent Duhail from losing 4-1.
Olunga then scored a brace against Al Shamal in the league, scored another two against Muaither and another two in the Emir Cup against Al Arabi.
In the league, Olunga finished with 15 goals, having made 18 appearances totaling 1496 minutes of play. He managed 17 starts, came in as a substitute on one occasion, got subbed five times, and watched one game from the bench.
Olunga celebrated the milestone but rued his absence from action owing to the injury for not finishing at the top. “Once again, 2023/24 season we did it despite six weeks injury,” he wrote on his social media pages. “We pushed to the limit, we will do it again in the 2024/25 season, and soon we shall be there.”
Last season, Olunga finished as the league’s top scorer after notching 22 goals and registering three assists from 22 matches while in the previous campaign, he topped the chart with 24 goals from 20 games but did not provide an assist.
Olunga is one of the best strikers in the world
In a recent interview, Harambee Stars head coach Engin Firat praised Olunga saying he was among the best strikers in the world and an extraordinary centre forward.
“Michael (Olunga), who plays in Qatar, is a very extraordinary centre-forward. I can say that he is one of the best strikers in the world right now; he has seven goals in the last three national matches. We are talking about such a player,” said Firat as quoted by Turkish News Agency Anadolu.
His latest success left excited Kenyans debating on social media, with one Prince Moses calling on the Harambee Star to ditch the Qatari league for the Premier League. “You should play for either Aston Villa or Newcastle United. We love you,” said Moses.
Erick Ombaye said: “You should be topping that list had you played 50 plus matches, you are the best,” while Dougy Costa Drogba wrote: ”Olunga has played fewer games. He, therefore, becomes my best player of the season. Congratulations Engineer.”
“One of the best strikers in Africa and the whole world we are proud of you Engineer,” said Becam Sahil, while Hezrron Onyango stated: “From the statistics, it’s true to say one Michael (Olunga) is the best striker in Africa.”
Rafiq Olendo remained confident that Olunga would soon be crowned the best player in Africa. He said: “One day you’ll receive that award of Africa Greatest Footballer of the Year” while Steh Voh said: “Olunga deserves his roses considering he accomplished this with the least number of games, keep up the good work of flying the Kenyan flag high.”
Barnabas Weche felt the injury setback had derailed Olunga’s march for more goals. “If it wasn’t for the injury you would be the leading African scorer with 34 goals,” while James Aliyo echoed Weche’s sentiments: “What if you played those six weeks and had an average of one goal per week? You would be the top player, make it happen next season. God keep you fit throughout the season.”
Olunga’s football journey from grass to stardom
While still a student at the Upper Hill School, Olunga began his career with Liberty and scored 32 goals, helping them finish the season unbeaten and earn promotion to the Nairobi Provincial League. He made headlines when he scored seven goals in a single match helping his team to an 8-0 win.
He left Liberty to join Kenyan Premier League outfit Tusker on a one-year loan deal on December 19th, 2012, and then was loaned out to Thika United after finishing the season with two goals for the Brewers. He left Thika United to sign for champions Gor Mahia ahead of the 2015 season finishing the campaign as the top scorer with 19 goals and helping the side win a record 15th league title without losing a single match.
On February 17th, 2016, Olunga signed for Swedish side Djurgardens IF on a four-year contract, after undergoing trials. He scored his first two goals on August 8th, 2016 against IFK Goteborg in a 3-1 win and was named man of the match.
At Djurgarden, he played 27 matches and scored 12 goals before moving to the Chinese club Guizhou Zhicheng in 2017. He played nine times for Zhicheng and scored two goals before being loaned to LaLiga outfit Girona on September 1st, 2017.
Olunga made his LaLiga debut against Las Palmas scoring a hat-trick in 22 minutes during a 6-0 win, becoming both the first Kenyan player and the first Girona player to score a hat-trick in LaLiga.
At Girona, he played 14 times and scored three goals before he moved to Japanese side Kashiwa Reysol on August 10th, 2018. He scored 58 goals from 72 matches including eight goals in one game as they thrashed Kyoto Sanga 13-1.
Olunga finished the season with 27 league goals as Reysol finished the J2 season as champions and won promotion to the first division. In 2020 he finished as the top scorer in the Japanese J1 League with 28 goals, winning the Golden Boot and the J-League 2020 MVP.
Olunga left Reysol to join Duhail in January 2021 on a three-year contract and debuted in the 3-1 away loss against Al Sadd. On January 25th, 2021, Olunga scored a hat-trick in Duhail’s 6-0 win against Al Ahli in the Emir of Qatar Cup. Olunga finished as the top scorer of the 2021 AFC Champions League, but Duhail crashed out of the competition after a 1-1 draw with team Al Ahli.
On the international scene, he debuted for Kenya in a friendly against Seychelles at the Stade Linite in Victoria on March 28th, 2015 and scored his first goal in a 2-0 friendly draw against South Sudan. He has 58 appearances for Kenya and scored 29 goals to his name.
