#07
Forward
Ayub Timbe
Club
K.R.C. Genk
League
Belgium
Region
Europe
DOB
—
Estimated peak value · 2017
$214,000 / KSh 22m
Estimated, not a transfer fee — a €200,000 valuation around his 2016-17 season; his move to Beijing Renhe was for an undisclosed fee. At $1.07 to the euro and KSh 103.
Profile
Belgium
A winger who came out of Kenya into the Belgian academies, winning the Belgian Super Cup and the Belgian Cup on Genk's books before 62 appearances and 14 goals at Lierse made him a first-choice international.
China, England and Japan
Beijing Renhe bought him in 2017 and he returned 17 goals in 49 Chinese Super League games, with a loan at Heilongjiang and another at Reading in England. Vissel Kobe took him to Japan.
Thailand — the treble season
At Buriram United he won the league, the Thai FA Cup and the Thai League Cup in the same 2021-22 season. Nanjing City, Sabail in Azerbaijan and a return to Belgium followed — 210 appearances and 37 goals in all.
Kenya
He has 31 caps and five international goals.
Cup and continental record
The Belgian Cup in 2012-13 and the Belgian Super Cup on Genk's books. With Buriram United: the Thai FA Cup and the Thai League Cup in 2021-22, alongside the league title, and AFC Champions League football with them.
Managers he played under
He was on the books at Genk under Mario Been and Emilio Ferrera, and played under Thorsten Fink at Vissel Kobe alongside Andrés Iniesta and Lukas Podolski.
Did you know
A Kenyan winger who was bought by China and then chosen by Japan
Timbe went from Belgian football to Beijing Renhe in the Chinese Super League, scoring 17 in 49 appearances against imported attacking talent the league was paying fortunes for. He then moved to Vissel Kobe in Japan's J1 League — a Kenyan wide player good enough to be recruited by two of Asia's biggest-spending leagues in succession, at a time when almost no Kenyan was being scouted at all.
17
Goals in 49 Chinese Super League appearances
2
Major Asian leagues that signed him
2017
The year Beijing Renhe bought him
Did you know
A domestic treble in Thailand, and a contract torn up on principle
He signed for Buriram United in December 2021 and was part of the side that took the Thai league, the FA Cup and the League Cup in the same 2021-22 season. Injury cost him most of it — thirteen appearances — and in November 2022 he agreed to terminate the contract rather than draw a wage for a season he could not play.
3
Trophies in one Thai season
13
Appearances before he walked away
6
Countries he has played league football in
Did you know
He left Kenya at fourteen and has never played a game there
He went to Belgium in 2006, aged fourteen, and built a career across Belgium, China, England, Japan, Thailand and Greece without ever appearing for a Kenyan club. He has said he wants to put that right before he finishes, and in October 2023 announced a plan for a hotel and a professional stadium in Kenya — the kind of privately funded infrastructure this site argues the game at home has never had.
14
His age when he left Kenya
0
Games played in the Kenyan league
Stadium
The infrastructure he has proposed building
Career record
193 league appearances and 36 goals across Genk, Lierse, Beijing Renhe, Reading, Vissel Kobe, Buriram United, Nanjing City and Sabail, now a winger at Crossing Schaerbeek in Belgium. 31 caps and 5 goals for Kenya.
Career appearances and goals reconciled against Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ayub_Masika)
210
Appearances
37
Goals
0
Assists
31
Caps
5
Int'l goals
AI score breakdown
| Criterion | Score | Max |
|---|---|---|
| League Strength | 22 | 25 |
| Club Prestige | 15 | 20 |
| Titles Won (weighted) | 12.1 | 20 |
| Impact | 10 | 15 |
| Total | 59.1 | 80 |
Either side of him in the ranking
