admin
Petros Kausiyo Deputy Sports Editor
CHAMPIONS Dynamos, eager to bolster their squad for the Champions League campaign, secured their first major close season acquisition when they signed Monomotapa’s talismanic midfielder Ronald Chitiyo yesterday. Dynamos are racing against time to find players to boost their squad ahead of Sunday’s Confederation of African Football initial deadline to register players for the inter-club competitions.
After weeks of hunting for new material, the Harare giants revealed yesterday that they had managed to secure the signatures of Buffaloes centre-back Themba Ndlovu and that of 2012 Castle Soccer Star of the Year second runner-up Chitiyo.
Both players are also set to find their places in Warriors coach Ian Gorowa’s 28-man squad that is expected to go into camp ahead of the 2014 African Nations Championships.
Ndlovu has recently forced himself into the Warriors’ reckoning after catching Gorowa’s eye when he made his senior team debut in the 0-0 draw against Tanzania in Dar es Salaam last month.
The Buffaloes defensive rock was also named in the side that played against Mozambique at Barborufields last Sunday which the Warriors won 2-1.
But it is their arrival at Dynamos that has left coach Callisto Pasuwa and team manager Richard Chihoro with some measure of relief as DeMbare’s shoe-string budget has meant that the Harare giants’ technical crew has been unable to pin down to contracts all the new players they had targeted for the 2014 season.
Chitiyo had, however, earlier publicly indicated that he was not prepared to go down to Division One with relegated Monoz, triggering a race for his signature with such clubs like league runners-up Harare City also expressing a strong interest.
The diminutive midfielder who still hopes to secure a deal to play at Ajax Cape Town, however felt joining the “big boys club’’ at DeMbare could provide him with a better platform to showcase his talents and possibly secure the move outside of the country’s borders that he has been longing for.
Pasuwa is also still hoping to secure the services of unheralded but talented Triangle midfielder Walter Mukanga and that of skilful Chicken Inn midfielder Kuda Mahachi.
The 43-year-old Dynamos coach, aware of the tough operating environment he has to survive in, said last night that the slow pace at which they had managed to secure new acquisitions meant the Glamour Boys would have to keep faith in the bulk of the players who helped him win a third straight championship title.
Pasuwa also became the first local coach to win three straight Premier League titles but the unassuming mentor has barely had time to revel in his glory and has instead focused his energies more on trying to put together a strong squad, which team manager Chihoro must register with Caf by midnight on Sunday.
“In as much as we would have wanted to bring in a number of new players for the Champions League and domestic challenges, we do not have a lot of financial resources to buy many players so we are looking at retaining the bulk of the championship winning squad and then see what happens from there,’’ Pasuwa said.
The Dynamos coach also revealed that his club had failed in their bid to prize away the striking pair of Nelson Maziwisa and Donald “Dombo’’ Ngoma from Premiership rivals FC Platinum.
There had been hopes that a chance to play in the Champions League could be a bait for such players like Maziwisa who earlier this year tried his luck at SuperSport United.
“We still really need to boost our strike force but unfortunately I understand that two of our targets, Nelson Maziwisa and Donald Ngoma have decided to stay at Platinum after they were offered contract extensions so we just have to keep searching,’’ Pasuwa said.
Chihoro also concurred with his boss and acknowledged that Dynamos could not afford to plunge into the jungles of the African Safari with a lightweight attack.
“So far we have signed two players but we have until midnight on Sunday to secure a few more. It is clear that we are not going to get a lot of players and the reality is that we will have to make do with what we have but we are still eager to get more strikers and we are not giving up hope’’.
Pasuwa was also still optimistic about Dynamos’ chances of landing the signature of Warriors midfielder and 2013 Soccer Stars of the Year finalist Mahachi who had a fine season with Chicken Inn.
The Dynamos mentor, who has always been an admirer of the former Zimbabwe youth international, has been in talks with Mahachi and his handlers and it has emerged that the ginger-haired forward was only awaiting the outcome of the trial stint he had at Mamelodi Sundowns before deciding on his future.
In the event that the cash-rich South African Premiership side decide to flex their financial muscle and swoop on Mahachi, Dynamos — who are still battling to secure corporate partners for the Champions League campaign — would have to look elsewhere for more players.
Online Reporter