Ghanaian striker Afriyie dumps Gor Mahia

The financial crunch at Gor Mahia is taking toll on players with Ghanaian striker Francis Afriyie the latest to ditch the club.

Afriyie left for his native country Ghana before Christmas but has not returned.

Gor however got news of his exit at the weekend via his agent, who attributed his departure to lack of payment of his client’s salary, which he argues is a breach of the contract.

The Ghanaian joined the Kenyan champions at the beginning of the season and has been an important cog in K’Ogalo’s formation.

Club deputy secretary general Ronald Ngala confirmed the developments. “His( Afriyie)  agent said we have not been able to pay the striker as per the contract. This has been due to lack of finances since we currently don’t have a sponsor.”

Afriyie’s exit comes just a fortnight after another striker, Ivorian import Gnamien Yikpe ditched the club for  Yanga SC of Tanzania, featuring as a substitute on January 4 in the derby against Simba which ended two-all.

The departure of the two foreign players should raise alarm bells at the club as the duo was seen as a replacement for  Rwandan Jacques Tuyisenge who left the club earlier to join Angola powerhouse Petro Atletico.

Yikpe’s best time at Gor was on November 10 at Kasarani when he hit the target twice in the Gor’s 4-1 demolishing of arch rivals AFC Leopards.

The towering striker had become a popular figure in the K’Ogalo dressing room with his team-mates likening him to former Togo international Emmanuel Adebayor owing to his height.

Ngala told Citizen Digital that despite the happenings, they are further planning to trim the squad to make it manageable.

“We are still facing the same payment problems with those still at the club. We are in the process of trimming the squad further so as to make it manageable.’’

In a separate interview with the Citizen Digital on Monday, club CEO Lordvic Aduda said they were waiting for head coach Steven Pollack to give out names of players to be dropped and those to be recruited.