SuperSport United defender Ime Okon jets out to Ukraine

The 20-year-old is believed to have left South Africa over the weekend for Ukraine to link up with one of Europe’s well-known clubs. 

Kyiv are currently at the top of the Ukraine Premier League after 17 games and are also enjoying a five-point lead on their nearest rivals FC Oleksandriya, while they currently sit bottom of the 36-team UEFA Europa League table after six rounds of matches.

It’s not the first time Okon has been linked with a team overseas following reported interest from England, Belgium and Denmark, but without any deal materialising from that.

According to information gathered by the public broadcaster, negotiations around a possible deal with Kyiv for Okon will be determined by his assessment at the club over the next few days.

Okon was promoted to the SuperSport senior team from the Diski Challenge side at the start of the 2023/24 season by coach Gavin Hunt, and was immediately thrown into the deep end with an impressive 33 appearances. 

The centre-back was rewarded for being a regular at Matsatsantsa by getting a Bafana Bafana call-up from coach Hugo Broos last year, although he is yet to earn a cap. 

The Johannesburg-born defender is also eligible to play for the Nigerian national team because of his family background, but it’s not yet clear whether he will choose South Africa over The Super Eagles at senior level.

Matsatsantsa appear to also be preparing for life without the defender considering he did not feature in their two Betway Premiership matches at home against Magesi FC and Stellenbosch FC in December. 

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