Mashemeji Derby Special: African Football HQ Podcast

The African Football HQ podcast comes in the midst of a blockbuster weekend of African football.

On Monday, the transfer window concluded, wrapping up a month of fascinating deals involving African players.

The best and worst of those January deals are assessed by Malek Shafei and Ed Dove in this week’s episode of the podcast.

There have been some major transfers involving the continent’s stars during the window, with moves involving Sebastien Haller and Krepin Diatta among the most expensive to take place across world football during January.

Dove is particularly excited by Ajax’s double swoop for Haller, from West Ham United, and the arrival of Oussama Idrissi from Sevilla.

The latter may be returning to the Netherlands following a torrid four months in Spanish football, but as recently as last season he netted 13 goals in the Eredivisie for AZ Alkmaar, and should be a superb addition for the Dutch giants.

Shafei is excited about his compatriot Mohamed Mostafa swapping the Egyptian Premier League for Turkish giants Galatasaray; can he translate his form in Africa to the Super Lig giants?

The pair also run through their transfer duds, with Dove unconvinced by Bright Osayie-Samuel’s switch to Fenerbahce, and Shafei unsure whether Henry Onyekuru’s move back to Gala from AS Monaco is really what he needs to get his career back on track.

We’re also joined by Goal Kenya correspondent Seth Willis as he previews the Mashemeji Derby.

Sunday’s clash between domestic giants Gor Mahia and AFC Leopards is the biggest match in the Kenyan football calendar, and local expect Willis looks ahead at what to expect from the heavyweight clash.

He also discusses the ongoing African Nations Championship with Shafei, and examines why East Africa’s representatives—Uganda and Tanzania—struggled to make an impact in the tournament for homebased players.

Also from an East African point of view, we look at Michael Olunga’s transfer from Japanese football to Al-Duhail of Qatar…is this the right move for the Kenya talisman?

Already, his new employers are out of the Fifa Club World Cup, but can their vanquishers—Al-Ahly—go the distance ahead of their semi-final against Bayern Munich?

Shafei runs the rule over the African champions, and explores what to expect from the Egyptian giants ahead of that meeting with Bayern Munich in Qatar.