Amid speculations and reports that Kenyan defender Joseph Okumu received praise from coach Hein Vanhaezebrouck following a stellar display on Saturday.Okumu was in action for the Belgian side as they lost 2-1 to Croatian outfit NK Lokomotiva Zagreb in a friendly match.##NAJAVA_MECA_7358671##He returned for pre-season recently having missed the tail-end of the last campaign with an injury which also saw him dropped from the Harambee Stars squad that did duty for the country during the Four Nations Tournament in Mauritius last month.Speaking after the match, the coach was quoted saying that some players had a great game while others did not, with Belgian publication HLN reporting that Okumu was one of those that had a great game.”The coach of the Buffalos also had a problem with the motivation of a few of his starting players. In the Netherlands, Julien De Sart, Joseph Okumu and newcomer Watanabe could look back on a great match, but you can expect more from the other guys. “We had played against teams at amateur level twice, this was a different story. I felt like a few weren’t quite awake and thought it was against amateurs again. There were a lot of things that could really be better today. We shouldn’t put everything on the circumstances, there are a few players who are clearly not yet where they need to be. When the circumstances are tough, you have to get over it and show character. A few did, but that was clearly not enough,” the publication wrote.Tactical look at Siwa’s versatile role at Tusker last seasonOn Monday, local publisher Pepeta reported that Okumu is on the verge of sealing a move to French Ligue 1 side Stade de Reims, with everything agreed on between the two clubs and only the player’s demands to be settled on.The Harambee Stars defender joined Gent in July 2021 and has gone on to impress at the club, attracting interest from top teams in Europe.
