Michael Olunga
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Personal information
Full name
Michael Olunga Ogada
Date of birth
26 March 1994
Place of birth
Nairobi, Kenya
Height
1.90 m (6 ft 3 in)
Playing position
Forward
Club information
Current team
Girona
(on loan from Guizhou Zhicheng)
Number
14
Senior career*
Liberty Sports Academy
2012-2016
?x apps / 32x goals
→ Tusker (loan)
2013
15x apps / 3x goals
→ Thika United (loan)
2014
26x apps / 9x goals
→ Gor Mahia (loan)
2015
27x apps / 19x goals
Djurgårdens IF
2016
27x apps / 12x goals
Guizhou Zhicheng
2017-
9x apps / 2x goals
→ Girona (loan)
2017-
5x apps / 3x goals
National team
Kenya
2015-
22x apps / 12x goals
(* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 19:57, 13 January 2018 (UTC) - National team caps and goals correct as of 19:59, 13 January 2018 (UTC)
Michael Olunga is a Kenyan professional footballer who plays for Spanish club Girona FC on loan from Chinese club Guizhou Zhicheng and the Kenya national team as a forward.
Club career
Early career and Gor Mahia
While still a student at the Upper Hill School, Olunga began his career with the Liberty Sports Academy in the Nairobi County League.
He scored 32 goals for the side during the 2012 season, 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 a 8:0 win.
Initially reported to be attending trials in France, Olunga signed for Kenyan Premier League side Tusker on a one-year loan deal from Liberty on 19 December 2012.
After finishing the 2013 season with two goals for Tusker, Olunga was loaned to fellow Premier League side Thika United for another year, before joining Gor Mahia before the beginning of the 2015 season.
He finished the season as the club's top scorer in the league with 19 goals to help the side win a record 15th league title without losing a single match, including the second goal in a 2:0 win over Muhoroni Youth on their final league match of the season.
Djurgården
On 17 February 2016, Olunga joined Swedish side Djurgårdens IF on a four-year contract, after joining the team's pre-season training camp on trial.
He scored his first two goals for Djurgården on 8 August 2016 against IFK Göteborg in a 3:1 win.
He was also named man of the match and Djurgården coach Mark Dempsey praised him for his match winning heroics.
In the next match Olunga scored once again in the 2:2 draw versus IF Elfsborg at the Tele2 Arena.
On 27 August, he scored the match-winning goal against Gefle with a volley in the 86th minute.
In the last 12 games of the Allsvenskan Olunga scored 12 goals which earned him a fifth place in the Allsvenskan top scorer table.
He was nominated for Newcomer of the year in Swedish football by a jury of Allsvenskan coaches and Swedish journalists as well as the coaches of the Swedish national teams. The prize later went to Alexander Isak.
On 10 November 2016, Kenyan football site Soka reported that Djurgården had turned down offers on Olunga from La Liga side Betis, Lokeren, Belgium champions Club Brugge and Swedish champions Malmö FF.
Guizhou Zhicheng
In 2017, Olunga joined Chinese club Guizhou Zhicheng.
Girona (loan)
On 1 September 2017, Olunga was loaned to La Liga side Girona FC, for one year.
On 13 January 2018, he made his La Liga debut against Las Palmas scoring a hat-trick in the span of 22 minutes during a 6:0 win.
International career
Olunga made his debut for the Kenya national team in a friendly against Seychelles at the Stade Linité in Victoria on 28 March 2015.
He scored his first goal for the Harambee Stars in a friendly against South Sudan which resulted in a 2:0 win.