The highly rated playmaker joins the Tanzanian champions following a tense and drawn-out negotiation process
Dar es Salaam. Young Africans (Yanga) have successfully completed the signing of Ugandan international midfielder Allan Okello, sealing a major boost to their midfield as the club fine-tunes its squad for the remainder of the season.
The highly rated playmaker joins the Tanzanian champions following a tense and drawn-out negotiation process, with Yanga’s leadership and technical bench pushing hard to secure a player they believe will add creativity, control, and attacking intent to the team.
Head coach Pedro Goncalves had earmarked Okello as a priority target, convinced the midfielder fits perfectly into his tactical plans.
Talks with Okello’s former club, Vipers SC, proved demanding, with both sides maintaining firm positions before eventually reaching a breakthrough.
Despite the midfielder still having time left on his contract, Vipers agreed to release him, allowing Yanga to complete one of their most high-profile signings of the window.
Sources close to the deal revealed that Okello himself played a decisive role in accelerating the move.
The midfielder is said to have expressed a strong desire for a new challenge and the opportunity to compete at a higher level with Yanga, whose domestic dominance and continental ambitions proved attractive.
Okello is expected to put pen to paper on a two-and-a-half-year contract, with final formalities set to be concluded shortly.
However, he will be unavailable for four group-stage matches, having already featured in those fixtures earlier in the competition with Vipers, who were eliminated at an early stage.
While Okello’s arrival has been welcomed with excitement among Yanga supporters, it has also brought an abrupt end to the club’s pursuit of Togolese attacking midfielder Marouf Tchakei.
Tchakei, who was close to joining Yanga on loan from Singida Black Stars, will now return to his parent club after the proposed move collapsed.
Although he had already linked up with Yanga’s camp and even featured in one competitive match during the Mapinduzi Cup in Zanzibar, the deal was never fully completed.
According to sources, certain aspects of the agreement failed to progress as expected, prompting Yanga to reconsider.
The situation was further influenced by the club’s recent recruitment drive, which increased the number of foreign players in the squad.
Alongside Okello, Yanga have also added striker Leonardo Depu, a signing that further narrowed the available foreign-player slots.
With squad balance and registration limits becoming a key concern, the club opted against finalising Tchakei’s move.
A senior source within Yanga confirmed that the decision to drop Tchakei was taken immediately after Okello’s signing was secured.
“Tchakei will not be part of our squad following the completion of Okello’s transfer. Once the Okello deal was finalised, there was no need to overcrowd the team,” the source said.
The source added that Tchakei was never officially registered, as the technical team only intended to assess him during the Mapinduzi Cup, explaining why his signing was never formally announced.
As a result, Marouf Tchakei will now continue the remainder of the league season with Singida Black Stars, while Yanga turn their focus to integrating Okello as they push for silverware on multiple fronts.
