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Robson Sharuko Senior Sports Editor
THE spectacular fallout between Cameroonian forward Christian Epoupa and his employers at Dynamos has a similar ringing tone to the stand-off between Algerian international midfielder Riyad Mahrez and his English Premiership club Leicester City just two months ago.

While the circumstances are as different as heaven and hell, the high-profile cases of two expatriate footballers finding themselves at odds with their employers have a distinctly depressing familiar background which has provided a feast for newspaper headline writers.

The similarities are interesting:

Both forwards have gone Absent Without Official Leave, in the past two months, after falling out with their employers with Mahrez disappointed by the collapse of his proposed move to Manchester City while Epoupa is unhappy with what he claims has been the failure by his club DeMbare to honour their financial commitments to him.

Both footballers have found themselves at odds with the leadership of their clubs, feeling let down by those in charge of the teams which hold their signatures, with Mahrez infuriated by the demands which the Leicester City bosses put on the table while Epoupa is unhappy the Glamour Boys leaders have allegedly not taken care of his welfare.

Both players have, in the past two months, tried to force a termination of their contracts from their current employers with Mahrez trying to push for a move to Manchester City while Epoupa handed in a letter demanding he be released from his deal with DeMbare.

Both players believe their long-term interests will now be served better elsewhere from their current employers with the Algerian frustrated by the way his employers have consistently turned away a number of suitors while Epoupa feels the Dynamos leaders have been giving him a raw deal by their alleged failure to honour their commitments to him.

Both men have resorted to taking matters into their hands by staging protests, where they did not attend the team’s training sessions, with Mahrez spending a number of days away from the club, after the collapse of his proposed move to Manchester City, while Epoupa this week decided to stop training with the Glamour Boys.

In both cases, the club leaders have exhibited a significant level of defiance with the Leicester City bosses refusing to be forced into submission by Mahrez’s demands while the Dynamos management have now resorted to taking a hardline stance in their dispute with Epoupa.

In Mahrez’s case, the dispute was centred around Leicester City’s evaluation of the midfielder of £95 million, for someone they bought for a mere £400 000 when he arrived in England, while Manchester City felt the midfielder was valued at £60 million.

In Epoupa’s case, the dispute has been centred around claims by the Cameroonian forward that Dynamos owe him more than $16 000 in signing-on fees and outstanding salaries while the club’s chiefs and their sponsors have said they paid more than $18 000 towards the player’s salaries since the beginning of the year.

Both players have vowed, at some point during the dispute, “never to play for their clubs” again and their cases have divided their camps with some Leicester City players unhappy with the way Mahrez handled the issue while some DeMbare fans have accused their leadership of incompetence in the way they have been handling the Epoupa case.

There is even a striking similarity in the quotes

Leicester City Coach Claude Puel

“I hope he can come back and work hard with the team sooner rather than later, of course, we will see.

“I hope Riyad can get his head right and to come back with us, to hard work, to see for him the best way is to come back and enjoy his football.

“Riyad is a magnificent player, he loves football, he loves his relationship with his friends, his teammates, he enjoys his football.

“I think he needs to come back to play, to touch the ball. It’s important.”

Lloyd Mutasa, Dynamos Coach

“It’s a 50-50 situation and I wouldn’t want to talk much about it. I think it’s an administrative issue.

“Obviously, the reason why we brought him here (from Cameroon) is because he is part and parcel of our puzzle, but there are some times in life when you should know where to start and where to end; there are some certain things you cannot control.’’

The depression that crept into both players

“Riyad is very depressed this evening over the events of the last two days. He doesn’t understand why Leicester have behaved in the way they have,” his friend told SkySport when the deal to join Manchester City collapsed.

“This is the fourth transfer window in which Leicester have said they will allow him to leave.”

And Epoupa’s manager Gilbert Sengwe also narrated his client’s depression to The Herald.

“The player is not happy at all and his mind is no longer focused on his game since he cannot provide for his family,” said Sengwe.

“He is married with one child and his wife looks up to him. His parents are always calling me demanding that the striker return home as he is not supporting his family the way they would have expected.

“His wife has since stopped going to a tertiary institution as the striker has not been sending enough money for his family.

“I have to force the player to always go to training so that he shows the club his commitment to play for them. He has been doing that, but he is now showing signs of fizzling out.

“He has since told me that if nothing comes out, he will be ready to leave the club and return home. He is depressed.”

After a three-week ordeal, in which Mahrez missed a number of key matches for Leicester City, the midfielder returned to the club and started training with his teammates who welcomed back into the family.

Leicester City emerged out of the saga with their credit intact after the club leadership refused to be bullied into sanctioning a move which they believed, in today’s crazy transfer market, represented the wrong evaluation of their player.

However, the same cannot be said about the Dynamos leaders who have been at the receiving end of criticism from both the media and sections of their fans who feel they did not handle the issue related to Epoupa as well as they should have done.

DeMbare president, Kenny Mubaiwa, just like his Leicester City counterpart, Thai billionaire Vichai Srivaddhanapraba, has vowed he is prepared to let Epoupa’s contract, set to end this year, run its course — even if it means the Cameroonian will not be playing football during that period — than release him to another club.

“This guy is employed by Dynamos and we have no plans whatsoever to release him at the moment. We expect him to report for duty like anyone else,” Mubaiwa said on Tuesday.

Maybe, for both Dynamos and Leicester City, it’s their primary colour, blue, which makes them sing such blues.