New Sofapaka striker Abdul Razak has explained why he turned down offers from Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Lebanon and opted for a return to Kenya.

The Burundian is among the new players already unveiled by Batoto ba Mungu ahead of the new season and has claimed he had several opportunities elsewhere, but chose to return to a club he played for between 2014 and 2015.

Kuwait, Saudi Arabia deals

“I had an offer from Kuwait with a bigger salary than what I am getting here in Sofapaka. I also had an offer from Saudi Arabia’s second division as well as a club in Lebanon, but I decided to come back here because this is like family to me,” Razak is quoted as saying by a local media outlet.

The forward said he would have returned earlier but had an offer from Oman, which made the return an impossible adventure.

“I was following Sofapaka on social media, and I saw the way they were struggling. I talked to the president, and he told me things were hard, and I told him to give me just two more seasons to play abroad, then I would return.

“I was to come back after Morocco, but immediately, a club from Oman really insisted on me signing for them, and I talked to the president and asked him to allow me another year. I can never forget where I come from, and my heart ached when I saw the club struggling. This is why, after Oman, I told the president I wanted to come back,” he added.

New signings

His main aim, as well as of the other new players, is to help the Premier League regain their winning touch. The club has yet to lift a title since they last did so in 2009, during their debut top-flight season, in which they became champions.

“If you look, when I left Sofapaka for [Mamelodi] Sundowns, I went on to play for several clubs, almost eight. It got to a point where I was following Sofapaka a lot online and saw that the club was struggling financially.

“I asked the president (Elly Kalekwa) why that was the case, and he told me that he was struggling to run the club. I was to join the club after leaving Morocco in 2022, but I told him I wanted to play for one or two more foreign clubs before returning to Sofapaka to help return the club to its great heights.

“It was hurting me to see the club languishing in unpleasant places like 10th and 11th,” he continued.

Darius Msaga, Daniel Otieno, Baron Ochieng, Mousa Omar, Khalid Juman, Oliver Maloba, John ‘Softy’ Ndirangu, Jacob Osano, Steven Otieno, Christian Lubulu, Edwin Lutta, Answar Lali, Lucky Murabu, and Franklin Masibo are the other players signed by Sofapaka.