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Tadious Manyepo
Sports Reporter
FC PLATINUM have received a major boost ahead of their CAF Champions League campaign next month after the return of experienced forward Silas Songani.

The 31-year-old has been with Sudanese giants, Al Hilal, for the past six weeks where he has been undergoing trials.

Songani impressed the East Africans but the club wanted him to wait for the current season to end before putting pen to paper.

FC Platinum objected to that arrangement.

“Silas (Songani) is back home from Al Hilal, where he has been for a couple of weeks,’’ said club spokesperson, Chido Chizondo.

“The deal has failed to materialise due to different factors and he is now back home.

“There is no doubt that he (Songani) is one of our biggest assets, going into the CAF Champions League and the fact that our coach (Pieter De Jongh) brought him, when he arrived from Europe early this year, means he values his European experience.

“So, what it means is that we have always wanted to have him in the squad. But, we don’t stand in players’ ways, when some clubs from abroad express their interess. “But, in his case, there were a number of issues, including the fees, which we failed to agree on.

“Songani is now back home and is training with the rest of the squad.”

The forward joined the Zvishavane miners early this year on a two-year contract. FC Platinum have entered a third week, doing group training, after they were allowed to do so by the authorities over two weeks ago.

The champions applied for a special waiver to start group sessions soon after expressing their commitment to represent the country in the CAF Champions League. De Jongh has always insisted he would love to have Songani in his squad for the Champions League campaign.

“I have always said Songani is a star and his European experience can come in handy when we play in the CAF Champions League,” he said.

“He is certainly one of our best players at the club and it was important for us to have him back home.

“Even the other players are happy that he is back and that is an encouraging sign of team spirit.”

De Jongh said his players have improved a lot in all aspects of their game in the past two weeks.

“I am very happy that the players are showing up, in all aspects of the game, they are improving in each session, every day. “The technical members of the staff, as well as the players, are working together well and I am very impressed by the eagerness being displayed by everyone at the team.

We need results and the players are in the right mood for us to get what we need at the end of the day.”