Who is Charlton Athletic Star Collins Sichenje?

Who is Charlton Athletic Star Collins Sichenje?

Late on in the January transfer window, Charlton Athletic signed 22-year-old Kenyan international centre-back Collins Sichenje from Serbian club FK Vojvodina on a three-and-a-half-year deal.

When asked about the deal, Charlton’s managing director James Rodwell, said, “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”.

It seems that the arrival of Sichenje came earlier than originally expected, which could be due to the ongoing battle for survival that Charlton find themselves in this season in the Championship, as staying up is important for the club if they want to grow and move forward.

We're delighted to announce the signing of Kenyan international Collins Sichenje from Serbian SuperLiga side FK Vojvodina 🤝

Welcome to south-east London, Collins! ❤️#cafc

— Charlton Athletic FC (@CAFCofficial) February 2, 2026

Sichenje himself was asked about joining Charlton and he responded with, “It’s a big step for my career. It’s a good opportunity to keep working, developing and helping the team, so I just need to be humble and keep working; that’s the goal."

The 22-year-old defender began his career at one of Kenya’s most established clubs, AFC Leopards, where he was introduced to the Kenyan Premier League as a teenager.

After a couple of years at AFC Leopards, Sichenje made a move to Europe, where he joined PAOK's development side in the Greek second division. However, this move wasn’t a success, as he failed to make an appearance for the side before heading back to Kenya to continue his development.

Sichenje earned himself a call-up to the Kenyan National side in 2020 and made his debut for the Harambee Stars in March 2021 in a friendly against South Sudan. Since then, Sichenje has gone on to make eight appearances for Kenya so far in his career, scoring once for his country in this time.

His next move came in 2022, when he signed a four-year contract at one of the biggest clubs in Sweden, AIK. During his time in Sweden, he made eight appearances in the league as well as appearances in cup competitions.

However, his time in Sweden only lasted one season, as the following summer he was loaned out to KuPS Kuopio in Finland for the full season. This is where Sichenje made his breakthrough, as he became a regular in the starting lineup, making 23 appearances in all competitions that season and helping KuPS to finish runners-up in the league.

After KuPS decided against activating the option to buy in the loan deal, Sichenje made an initial loan move to Serbian Superliga side FK Vojvodina, which later became permanent. Whilst Sichenje was at FK Vojvodina, he made over 50 appearances and certainly improved his reputation in the game.

Solid on his first start 👊

Collins Sichenje is your Player of the Match! 🌟#cafc pic.twitter.com/o92PSLHln8

— Charlton Athletic FC (@CAFCofficial) February 22, 2026

Since his move to Charlton earlier this month, Sichenje made his debut in a man-of-the-match performance at the weekend away at St Mary’s against Southampton, where he helped guide Charlton to earn a big away point in a 1-1 draw.

In an interview after the game, he said “It feels amazing to be on the pitch and help the team get a very big point for us.”

He will be hoping that his performance at the weekend can help him to keep a spot in the team for their game tomorrow night against fellow strugglers West Bromwich Albion which is another important game in the fight for survival.