When Lloyd Khavuchi ditched Gor Mahia in November 2021, he felt time was ripe for him to jostle for space in the senior team. The management had decided to send him back to the youth team, a decision he resisted, choosing instead to go sell shoes.“I have decided to take a brief break from football as I intend to concentrate on my shoe business which has been doing badly from last year. I ran down my contract at Gor and as much as I appreciate their efforts of retaining me in their youth team, I felt that I needed to fight for playing time in the senior team. Unfortunately, when the opportunity came to train with the big boys I suffered an ankle injury and ended up losing the opportunity,” the player told Mozzart Sport then.Realizing they made a blunder, letting go of a player they spent resources nurturing, K’Ogalo moved with speed to recapture him, snatching him from the jaws of arch rivals AFC Leopards on the last day of the mid-season transfer window in May this year.##NAJAVA_MECA_6816217##Still, the twenty-year old left footed attacking midfielder did not break into the first eleven as he had hoped, featuring in just a handful of games. Yet, this could change in the upcoming season, if his preseason form is anything to go by. The Chania Boys High School alumnus scored as the coach Johnathan McKinstry’s side went down 2-1 to Nairobi City Stars on Sunday. In a previous friendly, he starred despite Gor Mahia losing 1-0 to Muhoroni Youth in Muhoroni.”Lloyd has a lot of potential. He’s strong, fast and very positive with the ball. He can run at people, shoot, he is also willing to do the defensive work, as you know some offensive players don’t like taking part in defending, but as for Lloyd, he’s such a team player. We have high hopes for him, but again we have to understand that he’s a youth player, I know he looks like a man because he’s so big, but we have to remember this is going to be his first regular season with a top team, so we have to be patient, ” McKinstry told Mozzart Sport. Khavuchi’s potential was also in full show during the inaugural Patrick Oboya Cup late last year while featuring for Langata AllStars in the tournament that was fully-sponsored by Mozzart Bet.Is Gor Mahia’s pre-season form a thing of concern?Serving a transfer ban till January next year, Gor Mahia will have to rely on the power within to keep them in contention for the Kenyan Premier League title before they can request for reinforcement around March, it means hopefuls like Khavuchi will have a lot of opportunities to prove their worth.K’Ogalo, who play their season opener against Nzoia Sugar FC at Nyayo Stadium on Saturday, have already convinced former Kakamega Homeboyz highly rated defender Sylvester Owino to join pending January regularization.Gor Mahia’s first five matchesNov 19th – Gor Mahia v Nzoia – NyayoNov 26th – Bidco v Gor Mahia – ThikaDec 3rd, Gor Mahia v Wazito – NyayoDec 10th – Mathare v Gor Mahia – KasaraniDec 17th – K.Sharks v Gor Mahia – Kasarani (Annex)
