Liberia: Why Kpah Sherman Doesn’t Want to Leave the Malaysian League?
It's been four years since Liberia national team forward Kpah Sherman moved to Malaysia to continue his football career journey in the Malaysian Super League, the top league in Malaysia.
Sherman, 29, arrived in Malaysia 2017 after plying his trade for eight different clubs in Sweden, Cyprus, Tanzania and South Africa in a period of six years, winning the Tanzanian Premier League (2013/14) and KTFF Super Lig (2012/13).
He joined his first Malaysian club MISC-MIFA, now Petaling Jaya City FC from Cypriot club Çetinkaya Türk S.K.
As a newcomer to the Malaysian league, Sherman ended his debut season with seven goals from nine appearances. Moving on to the next league season, his final season with MISC-MIFA, Sherman renewed his contract with the club and recorded 14 goals from 20 appearances.
Since then, he has played for two additional clubs in the Malaysian Super League with his one-season spell at PKNS in 2019 being the best so far after he went on to win the league’s golden boot.
After spending the previous two seasons with Kedah, a club that still had interest in him, Sherman on Wednesday, December 8, completed his move to another Malaysian side, Terengganu FC.
Sherman’s stay in the Malaysian league as one of the preferred options for the Liberia national team attacking force has come under huge criticism over the years.
Liberia's national team head coach Peter Butler, who coached in the league, termed the league as a “weak”- something that perhaps got on Sherman’s nerves, but that’s the reality based on the league’s ranking.
However Sherman, as a professional player, knows what’s best for him and what he wants to have achieved at the end of his football career.
According to Sherman, Malaysia has become more than a home.
“I don’t want to leave Malaysia because I have gotten used to this country, my family lives and school here and the money I make here. Many agents and normal teams cannot afford that and I’m 29 years old. So I just wanna play and make money for myself and my family and better my future.”
Not to mention his annual income during the past seasons in the Malaysian league, Sherman will earn US$350K per annum, US$25K monthly in his new contract with Terengganu FC.
Although Kedah still had interest in keeping Sherman due to his performance during two previous league seasons, his move to Terengganu FC has been a long time coming.
“I left the club [Kedah] because I needed to try something new. Terengganu FC’s coach had shown interest in me for 2 years, and I think I fit in their pattern of play,” Sherman told Daily Observer.
His statement was backed by his new club. They stated on their official website: “Sherman’s move is based on several factors and among the main factors is that he sees the Terengganu FC team's game pattern is very suitable with the way he plays and he himself sees this team able to hunt the championship next season."