Kenyan defender Sichenje joins English Championship side Charlton, terms move a 'step forward'

Kenyan defender Collins Sichenje has expressed his excitement after signing for the English Championship side Charlton Athletic.

This is after putting pen to paper on a three-and-a-half year contract with the club which officially announced his arrival yesterday.

The 22-year old who signed for the Addicks from Serbian SuperLiga side FK Vojvodina has described the move 'a step forward in his career' and is fired up ahead of his debut.

“It feels amazing to be here. It is a good club with good projects and I’m ready to start working with them,” Sichenje said.

"It's a big step for my career. It's a good opportunity to keep working, developing and help the team, so I just need to be humble and keep working - that's the goal," he added.

Sichenje began his professional career with Kakamega High Scholl’s Green Commandos before moving to AFC Leopards in September 2019.

He then moved to Greece with PAOK and later returned to AFC Leopards after a short.

In 2022, Sichenje signed with Sweden’s giants AIK and was loaned a year later to Finnish club KuPS Kuopio in search for regular playing time.

He spent the 2023/24 season with the Finnish club where he impressed before going back to AIK.

Despite his impressive performances with KuPS, Sichenje appeared to be down the pecking order at AIK and was loaned again to FK Vojvodina for an initial six months before the Serbian club exercised his loan to a permanent deal in September 2024.

Sichenje has hailed his reception at the club and the trust the head coach Nathan Jones has placed in him.

“The manager has a lot of faith and belief in me. He has told me what I need to do to improve my game and I’ve started to learn and adapt quickly. The first impression is good, I’m happy to be here.”

Charlton’s managing director James Rodwell hailed Sichenje’s signing acknowledging he was a player they had tracked for some time.

"He's a player we've been tracking for a long time and was originally budgeted to join us this summer as part of our multi-window strategy to move the club forward. We're pleased that the opportunity arose for him to join us earlier than we expected,” said Rodwell.

The former AFC Leopards man is Charlton’s seventh signing of the winter transfer window following Luke Chambers, Harry Clarke, Lyndon Dykes, Conor Coady, Tiernan Brooks and Jayden Fevrier.

The Addicks will be hoping the eight-capped Harambee Stars defender will help them record a much improved position this season. They currently sit 18th on the log on 35 points after 29 matches.