EXCLUSIVE: Di Matteo in talks with FKF over Harambee Stars job
Former Chelsea Champions League-winning coach Roberto Di Matteo is expected in the country next week to finalise talks for the vacant Harambee Stars coaching job, Nairobi News can exclusively reveal.
Football Kenya Federation (FKF) has confirmed Di Matteo’s imminent arrival in the country with the federation boss Nick Mwendwa expressing hope that the deal will be sealed by the end of the week.
“We have been consulting on how to reconstitute the national team’s technical bench. Di Matteo perfectly fits our profile for the head coach’s job because of his distinguished playing and managerial career,” Mwenda told Nairobi News in an exclusive interview.
Mwendwa further revealed that unlike his predecessor, Paul Put who left the posting mid February, Di Matteo will be given a free hand to bring along his own technical stuff, comprising an assistant coach, goalkeeping coach and physiotherapist.
“If he accepts our offer, we will allow him to bring his own technical stuff. We don’t want to have a recurrence of our disagreements with previous coaches. I believe Di Matteo is the man who will lead Harambee Stars to Afcon 2019,” Mwendwa said in his characteristic bullishly style.
COACHING CAREER
Should the talks go through, the 48-year-old Italian will take over from caretaker coach, Stanley Okumbi, who was demoted early this week.
Di Matteo had a distinguished playing career, making a total of 119 appearances for Chelsea between July 1996 and his retirement in February 2002.
During that period he won the now defunct UEFA Cup Winners Cup, UEFA Super Cup, two FA Cups, Charity Shield and the League Cup.
The highlight of his coaching job however remains leading Chelsea to the FA Cup and UEFA Champions League titles in 2012. Despite landing the Blues’ first European title, Di Matteo was summarily dismissed later that year.
Other than Chelsea and West Brom, Di Matteo has also coached Milton Keynes Dons, Schalke 04 and Aston Villa.
Di Matteo’s forthcoming visit to Kenya will not be his first having visited the country in 2013 courtesy of an invitation by global beer brand Guinness.