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Gor Mahia chairman Ambrose Rachier yesterday hosted sports lawyer and Mesut Ozil’s agent Dr Erkut Sogut who is in the country for a series of seminars. Rachier said the meeting marked the start of a relationship between Gor Mahia and Dr Sogut’s on talent scouting and player representation.

Sogut, who has been in Nairobi since Sunday, presented kits and equipment to Gor Mahia youth team at Camp Toyoyo.

He advised against unlawful player engagement practises, telling footballers who want to move abroad to be patient and use the right approach. 

The former Arsenal star’s representative also called for greater emphasis on development of players. 

“I see especially in places like Ghana or Nigeria about two or three years is lost due to a gap. Between 14-17 the talent flourishes but afterwards it vanishes because there is no follow-up on tactics and analytics as is the case in Europe. 

“If this changes, African football will grow,” he added.

Rachier, on the other hand, said there are plans to schedule a friendly game between Gor Mahia and Fenerbahçe, Ozil’s current club in Turkey.

He has also urged the Football Kenya Federation to work on regularising agents. 

“I hope when the federation gets back, the issue of player agents is sorted because we have a challenge with many unverified people misleading young players. We are happy to have Dr Sogut to share his insight particularly with our juniors on areas of transfers. We will be working on a partnership with his organisation particularly on ways to support our youth team. This will be an important exposure lesson for them,” said Rachier.