Arubi’s Deal Flops

has been hit by a fresh bout of complications with his club, Highfield United, announcing that the loan deal has collapsed and will not be resuscitated this season.
The Warriors’ goalkeeper is one of four Highfield United players, wanted by the Glamour Boys for their Champions League and domestic commitments this season, whose move to the Harare giants has been frozen, in the past few weeks, because of a number of challenges.
The three other players include Murape Murape, who also crossed the floor from Dynamos to Highfield United, and the duo of highly-rated midfielder Isaac Madziva and forward Richard Mteki who were playing for police club Black Mambas last season.
Arubi and Murape’s loan deal to Dynamos, where they are registered for the Champions League, was thrown into turmoil when the Glamour Boys failed to meet a commitment, undertaken in writing, to pay Highfield United the fees for the two players.
Although Dynamos had also targeted Madziva and Mteki, the two players chose to remain at Highfield United leaving the Harare giants to only focus on Arubi and Murape.
Dynamos secretary Oliver Manyau yesterday confirmed that complications have arisen in their quest to woo Arubi and Murape into their team this season, because of the financial challenges that the Glamour Boys were facing, but insisted that they were trying everything possible to revive the deal.
“We were supposed to pay Highfield United by January 31 for the services of Washie and Murape and we had made that arrangement on the understanding that by then we would have received an injection of funds from the partners we are working with,” said Manyau.
“The problem was that the funds had not been released by the time the deadline for the payment passed and Highfield United wrote to us advising us that they were now withdrawing the services of the two players.
“Since then we have been making presentations to our partners to try and get something released because we really need those two players to add experience into our team and we will pursue all the avenues possible to ensure that we get them onto our side.
“We also have to add that the issue of funding isn’t only affecting the deal to bring Washie and Murape but some of the other players we have also brought into the team and that is why it is a matter of urgency.”
The Herald can reveal today Dynamos wrote to Highfield United director Nkululeko Sibanda on January 13 this year requesting the services of Arubi, Murape, Madziva and Mteki whom they wanted to use in their Champions League and domestic commitments this year.
The Glamour Boys offered US$10 000, for a one-year loan deal, for the services of Arubi and US$4 000 each, on the same loan deal, for Murape, Madziva and Mteki.
That means, in total, Dynamos were supposed to pay US$22 000, according to their offer letter, for the four players, before close of business on January 31.
Dynamos said they would negotiate salaries, with each individual player, but made it clear that the bonuses were uniform with each player getting US$150 for a win and US$50 for a draw.
The Glamour Boys insisted in their letter that they wanted Highfield United to respond quickly to their request since they were in a desperate situation and had less than 24 hours left to complete their registration exercise for this year’s Champions League campaign.
While Highfield United agreed in principle to release Murape, Madziva and Mteki on the conditions laid down by Dynamos in their request, the Division One side advised the Glamour Boys that they would only release Arubi on the basis that they were paid US$15 000.
“Basically, the point was that Arubi had been paid US$1 000, from the US$5 000 signing-on fee that he agreed with Dynamos last year and he was owed US$4 000, a figure which the club’s officials didn’t dispute,” sources revealed yesterday.
“Highfield United officials then decided that they would incorporate Arubi’s outstanding amount from his signing-on fee to the offer that had come from Dynamos and they settled for a US$15 000 one-year loan deal for the player and agreed to release him to DeMbare.
“Arubi’s case was also helped by the fact that he also personally wanted to play for Dynamos and he still had that romantic attachment to the club because of the good relationship that he enjoyed with the supporters last season.
“But Dynamos had to pay by January 31 and both parties agreed that the deal should be sealed on or before close of business that day and they said they were certain they would meet the deadline because they expected funds from Faithwear, Savanna Tobacco, some business guys who had committed themselves to helping the club and money that was set to come from the Government.”
However, Dynamos could not raise the money and, instead, at the end of last month, they only brought the salaries for the players.
Highfield United officials rejected the salary payment saying that the agreement between the two parties was built on Dynamos fulfilling its obligations in the payment of the full loan fees and, as long as that money was outstanding, the players could not receive salaries from DeMbare.
On February 7, Highfield United wrote a letter to Dynamos advising the Harare giants that their failure to meet the terms of the loan agreement, in terms of payment of the loan fees, meant that the deal that had been entered between the two clubs for the players was now null and void.
“Since then there has been very little or no communication, between the two clubs, in terms of the players and the mood in the Highfield United camp right now is that the deal is now history and will not be resuscitated this season,” said the sources.
“But some guys in the team say that if they are to bend right now, following everything that has happened in the past few weeks, then it would only be to release Murape and that’s purely for sentimental reasons because Dynamos is his home.
“The Washie deal, as far as the Highfield United leadership is now concerned, has collapsed and, while you never say never in football, it will take a dramatic shift in positions among the officials for things to change and for it to be revived but that is unlikely.
“Obviously there is sympathy towa-rds the challenges that Dynamos might be facing in raising funds but if you go back to the initial deal you will see that Highfield United gave them two more weeks, when compared to their initial offer, to try and secure the funds for the loan deals.
“But the same challenges the club is facing also brings an element of fear, on the other hand, about Dynamos’ capa-city to guarantee that it will meet the players’ welfare in the long term.”
Arubi – whose one-season loan deal with Dynamos expired last season – moved to Highfield United after the Zifa Northern Region Division One side struck a deal, to buy him on a permanent basis, from his Bulawayo club Bantu Rovers.
The Warriors’ goalkeeper was one of three players, who featured for Dyna-mos last year, who moved to Highfield United with Murape and winger Benjamin Marere completing the list.
But Arubi revealed last month that his heart was still with the Glamour Boys and, inspired by the beautiful love story that developed between him and the club’s fans in a very good season for the goalkeeper last year, he decided to go back and play for one more season.
Marere, instead, rejected any calls for him to return to Dynamos on loan saying he needed time away from the Glamour Boys to recover from the trauma he suffered during his stay at the club last year.