Chinani attracts interest from Russian club
Sports Reporter
SIMBA CHINANI, the Dynamos goalkeeper who has forced his way into the Warriors, has been offered a trial stint with an undisclosed team in Russia’s top-flight league. The Russian side, who are regular features in the UEFA Champions League, want Chinani for trials and is he impresses he will be sent on loan to a Spanish team.
The Russians will then expect to bring back Chinani in June next year to take over as their first-choice goalkeeper.
The goalkeeper’s trials have been facilitated by the scouts led by Nigerian national Moo Muhammad Mustapha, who lives in Russia, and is the general co-ordinator of what has been dubbed ‘‘Africa’s biggest scouting event.’’
Mustapha’s team have been in the country for the past week.
‘‘This is to confirm another trial offer by a top division team, a UEFA Champions League team in Russia for Dynamos goal-stopper Chinani Simbarashe this January,’’ Mustapha said in a statement released yesterday,
‘‘If the goalkeeper passes the trials, he will be sent out to a team in Spain on loan and return after the contract of the first choice goalkeeper of the Russian big spenders contract expires in June.
‘‘We are expecting another offer from Greece before the end of tomorrow. That will be four offers in five days.
‘‘Regardless of the difficult environment/condition we have proven beyond reasonable doubt that we have what it takes to put Zimbabwe on the world pap and be helping as many players as possible move yearly.’’
Last weekend, the visitors – who have been working with former Zimbabwe international Dickson Choto and ex-CAPS United defender Charles Manjera – held two days of trials at Prince Edward School.
‘‘About 266 people participated at Prince Edward School from the ages of 11 to 25, a total of five kids from 11 to 16 years were selected and also six professional players were picked after the event from 19th to 21st.
‘‘Among the professional players selected, we already had two offers from a Russian team for a right back, Marvelous Chigumira, and Nigel Katawa, a defensive midfielder.
‘‘We got their invitation barely 24 hours after the event at Prince Edward which has never happened before in any scouting event in Africa or the world at large.
‘‘Furthermore, 11 year-old Cole Tsamba was given a scholarship to see him through his education until he is 17 years and we will pay his school fees and bills.
‘‘The other four kids were registered into a better academy and we will provide their playing kits until they get to the age when they can also be taken to Europe.
‘‘Our agency has proven beyond reasonable doubt that we are here to help the youths of Zimbabwe, create jobs and develop talents.
‘‘We urge the Government, individuals, sport lovers and all good citizens of Zimbabwe to support us so that we all can use this platform to help boost the economy through sports and also put Zimbabwe on the world map.’’
Mustapha arrived in the country together with a Portuguese scout Miguel Angelo Ferreira Almeida.
Mustapha is part of the Dynamic African Stars Agency, whose headquarters are in Nigeria, and is on a mission to “discover grassroots talents and connect them to their dreams.’’
They say they were committed to recruiting talent, which in countries like Zimbabwe, could go unnoticed by some European clubs and then use their connections to tie down such players to their dream move.
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