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Robson Sharuko Senior Sports Editor
FORMER Nigerian captain John Obi Mikel says he is ready to use the influential links he established during his lengthy spell in England to try and convince a number of the British Brigade targeted by the Warriors to consider committing themselves to Zimbabwe.
The 32-year-old former Chelsea midfielder spent 11 years in the trenches of the English Premiership, making 249 league appearances for the Blues, winning two league championships, three FA Cups, the UEFA Champions League and the Europa League.
He had a brief spell in China before returning to England to play for Championship side Middlesbrough last season and snubbing interest from newly-promoted English Premiership teams, Norwich and Sheffield United, to sign a two-year contract with Turkish topflight side Trabzonspor.
Mikel is set to battle against Zimbabwe international defender Teenage Hadebe, who joined another Turkish top-flight league side Yeni Malatyaspor earlier this month, and played 90 minutes in the Europa League second round qualifier, first leg tie against Slovenia team Olimpija NK on Thursday night.
The match ended 2-2.
Mikel was charmed by the potential in the Warriors side during their friendly international against the Super Eagles in Nigeria ahead of the 2019 AFCON finals, which ended goalless, and told the Zimbabwean delegation he will try to use his influence and connections to convince more British Brigade troops to consider committing themselves to the senior national team.
The former Super Eagles skipper believes the Warriors could become a very competitive team on the international scene if they fuse many of the players with Zimbabwean connections, who are in the Diaspora, because they come with the benefit of having horned their skills at a higher level of football.
Already, the Warriors have recruited four members of the British Brigade, with Tendai Darikwa and Alec Mudimu making their Nations Cup bow in Egypt, while Leicester’s Admiral Muskwe played for the team at the COSAFA Cup in Durban.
Striker Macauley Bonne’s AFCON show was only derailed because of the late processing of his passport.
Muskwe has featured in Leicester’s first team in pre-season, in what analysts say is confirmation of the huge talent he has, while Bonne has already scored for his new Championship side Charlton in a pre-season game against English National League side Dagenham & Redbridge.
‘’Mikel has told us that we have a team that has a lot of potential, but we can get better if we fuse the players that we have with those who have spent most of their time playing in Europe, including those who were brought up in those systems and he says he is ready to help us get some of our targets,’’ said sources.
‘’As you know, he spent a lot of time in England, about 12 years or so, playing football at a very high level and he has connections, and he also has a lot of influence there and can pick up the phone and talk to certain people to help us.
‘’He knows it’s not easy, but he says it can be done and the most important thing is to convince the players that they will get a professional set-up should they decide to come and play for Zimbabwe, because these are guys who have been brought up, all their lives, in a professional environment.
‘’It’s remarkable that someone like John Obi Mikel can do that, can have such love for a team that is not his national side and say that, well guys, I can try and help you because I’m happy with what I have seen in your team, but you also need some additions here and there who have worked under a European set-up.
‘’Let’s see how it turns out, but that’s encouraging because we have a number of targets that we believe can come and play for the Warriors and, as Alec and Darikwa have shown, these guys really add a lot of value to the team.
‘’Alec’s value to the team was seen in that match against DRC at the AFCON, where his absence in the heart of defence was clearly felt, as we crumbled, and if we can get some more of his quality and add to the players we have, then we can have a quality team.’’
Mikel was part of the Super Eagles squad that battled the Warriors in a pre-AFCON friendly match in Nigeria which ended in a goalless before the Nigerians went to Egypt and won the bronze medal at the tournament, while Zimbabwe crashed out in the group stages.
The two teams took the same charter flight from Nigeria to Egypt for the Nations Cup campaign.
Relations between Zimbabwean and Nigerian football have been growing in recent years.
Mikel won 89 caps for Nigeria and featured in two World Cups for the continent’s most populous nation, while also helping them to win the 2013 AFCON title.
Rees Nelson, who is 19, was born in London to a Zimbabwean father and a British mother and appears to have set his sights on trying to play for the Three Lions in international football.
However, there is a feeling within the Warriors camp that, even though Nelson hasn’t shown any optimism to try and play for Zimbabwe, he could be lured to consider playing for the senior national team.
Nelson — just like Warriors captain Knowledge Musona — also spent some time at German club TSG Hoffenheim where he was on loan from Arsenal as an eight-year-old.
Should Nelson break into the Gunners first team this coming season, he is likely to come up against Zimbabwean midfielder Marvelous Nakamba, who is set to complete a move to Aston Villa.
Nakamba has been undergoing a series of extensive medical check-ups at Villa after arriving in Birmingham on Thursday when the English side agreed a deal with his Belgian team Club Brugge.
It’s very likely that a lot of focus is being placed on Nakamba’s knee after the injury which ruled him out of two of three AFCON matches for the Warriors in Egypt.
Online Reporter