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Tadious Manyepo-Sports Reporter
CAPS United have been left clutching at straws after missing out on the chance to sign midfielder King Nadolo who spectacularly joined financially-boosted Yadah on transfer deadline day.
The Green Machine appeared to have secured the highly-rated player after principally agreeing loan terms with his parent club TelOne over a fortnight ago.
Actually, Nadolo has already been training with Makepekepe while the authorities were supposedly pushing the paperwork.
Makepekepe had already confirmed the capture, which would have seen Nadolo become the latest player to join an exclusive small group of players who have played for all the three traditional local football giants, CAPS United, Dynamos and Highlanders.
He has already seen action at the Glamour Boys and Bosso.
But, he will not be part of that rare crop, at least for now, after he committed to Yadah on a one-year-loan contract on Friday last week.
Friday was the transfer deadline day for the first half of the ongoing Castle Lager Premier Soccer League season.
And TelOne, apparently frustrated with the slow progress on the proposed deal with Makepekepe, decided to settle for Yadah.
The Prophetic Healing and Deliverance Ministry-owned team have been boosted with the arrival of Harare businessman Scott Sakupwanya who has reportedly bought stakes in the team.
With their impressive new financial status, the Expense Chitukutuku-coached team have been looking for big-name players to draft in.
They acted quickly enough after they heard Nadolo was still available as Makepekepe and TelOne were yet to agree on the modalities of the temporary deal for the midfielder.
Yadah chairman, Everson Chatambudza, didn’t pick up his calls yesterday.
But TelOne, president Lloyd Mutetwa, confirmed Nadolo has been loaned to Yadah. “Yes, King Nadolo has joined Yadah on a one-year loan deal.
“We had to run around to ensure that everything was done before the deadline lapsed,” said Mutetwa.
“Of course, Nadolo was supposed to have joined CAPS United. In fact, we had agreed on everything and he was training with CAPS United.
“But, there are some issues which took long to be ironed out and seeing that deadline was fast approaching, we decided to loan him to Yadah.
“We had no problem doing that since Yadah had first approached us looking for his services.
“They (Yadah) fulfilled every piece of the agreement and yes, Nadolo will be at that team for the entire 2023 season.
“Nadolo remains our player as we still have a contract with him that lapses only at the end of 2024.
“We are playing in the First Division (ZIFA Central Region Division One Soccer League), and if there are teams that show interest in our players like what Yadah have done, we don’t have any problems with that.
“Players are meant to play football at the level that suits their profile and we hope that Nadolo will do well in helping Yadah achieve their season goals.
“We had to act fast to ensure that he gets registered for the season before the deadline lapsed.”
CAPS United chief executive Charlie Jones said the team couldn’t put together a deal for Nadolo.
“Yes, I can confirm that Nadolo is no longer training with us.
“A deal for him to join us on loan from TelOne failed to materialise,” said Jones.
Part of Nadolo’s deal at Yadah, The Herald understands, will see him earning a monthly salary of US$600 after a sign-on fee of about US$6 000.
It’s a blow for CAPS United who apparently need a playmaker of Nadolo’s calibre to steer them in a year they are looking to end a seven-year wait for the league title.
But it’s a huge gain for Yadah who believe they have an outside chance of winning the league title this season.
Online Reporter