Chelsea fans have urged the club to consider signing Kenyan defender Joseph Okumu following his stellar campaign for Ligue 1 side Stade de Reims since his summer move to France.
Chelsea fans have taken to social media to urge the club to consider signing Kenyan defender Joseph Okumu.
Okumu has continued to earn high praise since his €12 million (Ksh1.7 billion) move from Belgian side KAA Gent to French outfit Stade de Reims with his impressive performances for the Ligue 1 side.
The Harambee Stars centre-back has been among the outstanding players in Ligue 1 this season, earning a number of Team of the Week spots in recent months while he was named in the Ligue 1 Team of the Month for November.
Blessed with height, pace, good reading of the game and an ability to play out from the back, Okumu is one of the modern-day centre backs who can slot into any team and his qualities and performances seem to have impressed Chelsea fans who feel he can do much better than some of those at the West London club.
“Joseph Okumu (Kenya and Reims centre-back): 6 feet 3, and still one of the fastest centre-backs in the game. Strengths: Duels and positioning,” Chelsea fan Vince, popularly known as Blue Footy posted on X.
His post elicited a lot of reactions from Blues supporters who urged the club’s Director of Global Talent and Transfers Paul Winstanley to snap up the Kenyan international.
“Paul Winstanley sign him please. A good defender, better than [Benoit] Badishile,” pointed out a fan.
“Chelsea fans we can assure you he’s better than Badiashile and [Axel] Disasi. This signing will be a coup like Ricardo Carvalho. Boehly, come on,” expressed another supporter, who called on Chelsea owner Todd Boehly not to rest on his laurels.
“I promise you. Chelsea won’t see a player like this in the market and go for it,” commented another supporter.
“I am from Kenya and I can tell you Okumu is a monster. His positioning is always top notch but what I like more about him is concentration.”
Others feel the 26-year-old former Chemelil Sugar defender can be the long-term replacement for Brazilian veteran Thiago Silva who is in his last season at Chelsea.
“We need an excellent, calm on the ball CB [cenre-back] to dominate games when we need to maintain possession to replace Thiago Silva. I’m not sure if we do have CB’s that are like that though,” pointed put another Chelsea fan.
“We need someone fast. Good to watch Thiago and [Trevor] Chalobah on Monday. Enough of Badiashile and Co.”
Okumu has enjoyed a meteoric rise since moving to Europe, playing for two years each at Swedish side IF Elfsborg (2019-2021) as well as Gent (2021-2023) and few can rule out another big-money transfer to one of Europe’s top sides in the near future.
For now, he is focused on helping Reims qualify for European football next season as they are eighth on the Ligue 1 table with 40 points after 29 matches, four adrift of fifth-placed OGC Nice who occupy the final qualification place.
