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Innocent Kurira and Fungai Muderere
Sports Reporters
HIGHLANDERS remain hopeful of pinning midfielder Devine Mhindirira down to a new contract as several local clubs are believed to be monitoring the situation tightly with the hope of snatching the midfielder when his contract expires on June 30.
Bosso remain locked in talks with the midfielder, who is also on the radar of Chicken Inn and Simba Bhora.
The two suitors are believed to be offering more than Bosso, which could result in the player leaving the Bulawayo giants though he would prefer to continue wearing the black and white jersey.
Bosso secretary-general Morgan Dube is confident the two parties will reach an agreement before his contract expires in a fortnight.
“We are still in talks with the player. We are hoping as we get to the end of this month we will have concluded the deal,” said Dube.
Mhindirira, a creative midfielder, has been on top of his game for Kelvin Kaindu’s mentored side, and losing his services would prove detrimental for the league championship-starved black and white army.
Owing to a nagging injury, Mhindirira saw little game time at Bosso last season. It was the same year that the 2022 season Soccer Star of the Year finalist was called for a disciplinary hearing after he missed Bosso’s first three weeks of pre-season training.
Mhindirira was accused of breaching article 5 (a) (d) (g) of his contract.
He was let off the hook because he was still owed his 2019 signing-on fee as well as the signing-on fee from 2022 when he extended his contract.
In the build-up to the 2024 season, Mhindirira again was meant to leave Bosso but Kaindu is said to have insisted on the player staying at Bosso.
This was despite then Bosso chairman Jonhfat Sibanda having suggested they were not going to consider the player for this season as he is a bad apple in the team.
Meanwhile, head coach Kelvin Kaindu has expressed the need to recruit two strikers when the month-long Zifa transfer window opens on July 1.
Kaindu made the sentiments soon after their one-all draw against Castle Lager Premier Soccer League (PSL) newcomers, Bikita Minerals on Sunday.
“We still have one or two slots that are remaining. We will need to beef up especially upfront. I think you have seen that we have even used MaNinja (Brighton Ncube) when he is injured but it has been difficult. We have been working with permutations. Now we are hoping that when the window opens we may have one or two strikers,” said Kaindu whose Highlanders is re-building.
The Zambian gaffer leads a Bosso side that is perched on position five, with 23 points in a campaign where they have scored 19 goals and conceded 13.
Bosso’s bulk of goals have come through Lynoth Chikuhwa and Ncube who have both contributed 12 goals.
The former has netted seven and Ncube, a former Chicken Inn forward, has five goals to his name.
On Sunday, the club’s rookie Marvin Sibanda got his first goal of the season six minutes into their match against Bikita Minerals, a brilliant finish that showed his class.
The young player was unfortunate not to score a brace as his other well-taken effort crashed against the crossbar with Bosso followers already counting it as a goal.
Sibanda (25) was previously at the now-defunct Bantu Rovers, which featured in the Zifa Bulawayo Province junior and Zifa Southern Division One leagues before the player moved to the United States on a football scholarship in 2016. Sibanda penned a three-year contract with Highlanders early this year and his last club was Little Rock Rangers, which is based in Arkansas in the US.
Online Reporter