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Former AFC Leopards head coach Patrick Aussems has issued a come-and-get-me plea message to rivals Gor Mahia after the Football Kenya Federation (FKF) Premier League champions showed interest in his services.

The 59-year-old Belgian tactician is currently without a club having left Ingwe’s den on July 10, 2023. With Gor Mahia set to lose their coach Johnathan McKinstry to the Gambia national team, the reigning champions have already approached Aussems to take over as his replacement. Aussems, who has coached in East Africa before including a stint with Tanzanian Premier League giants Simba SC, confirmed to People Sports having received a telephone call from a top K’Ogalo official but insisted it was “a normal call without an offer for my services.”

Aussems further said if Gor Mahia are interested in his services, they should make the transfer official because he is already considering offers from top teams in South Africa, Rwanda, and Tanzania.

“I don’t have any offer from them (Gor Mahia) they just called me and that is all, and if they want to seal the deal, they should move fast because time is rushing out,” Aussems told People Sports in an exclusive interview. “I have other offers on the table that I am already considering, my job is to consider every option and then decide.”

Pressed to reveal details of the phone call from Gor Mahia, Aussems said: “It was just a very normal phone conversation, it was a normal call, we just talked and everything ended there.”

On whether he had applied for the job to succeed McKinstry, the Belgian explained: “I didn’t apply; they came looking for me via a phone call but the truth is, I have several opportunities so I will decide by the end of this month (May) on my next destination.”

Asked whether the offer in Tanzania includes that of Simba, a side he coached between the 2018-19 season and guided them to the title in the same campaign and reached the quarter-finals of the CAF Champions League, losing out to TP Mazembe 4-1 over the two legs, Aussems said: “Who knows? Football is a small world.”

The exit of McKinstry from K’Ogalo looks more likely after the club’s CEO Raymond Oruo confirmed to People Sports that the Northern Irish tactician will leave the country to take charge of the Gambia in their 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifying matches after the FKF Premier League fixture against Muhoroni Youth, played on Sunday.

“McKinstry will leave the country after the Muhoroni game for the Gambia to take charge of the national team for the two World Cup qualifiers and then return to finish the season with us in June,” Oruo told People Sports.

McKinstry took charge at Gor Mahia on July 29, 2022, having left Uganda Cranes role, and despite inheriting a team in turmoil at a time when K’Ogalo was serving a FIFA transfer ban, he ended the season with success after guiding them to their 20th league title.

His first assignment with the Gambia will be a home game against Seychelles on June 8 at the Stade Municipal de Berkane in Morocco before the Scorpions travel to face Gabon away three days later at Stade de Franceville. The Gambia are in the same Group F with Kenya’s Harambee Stars, who will play their two home matches away in Malawi against Burundi on June 8 and Ivory Coast three days at Bingu National Stadium in Lilongwe.