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Tadious Manyepo-Sports Reporter
CASTLE Lager Premier Soccer League giants Dynamos are preparing a lucrative deal for veteran forward Ishmael Wadi whom they want to sign this mid-season transfer window.
The Glamour Boys are targeting to win the league title to spice their 60th anniversary celebrations this term.
They have shown intent, despite the glaring lack of consistency, and they are well within sniffing distance of leaders Ngezi Platinum Stars, 13 weeks into the season.
While they have played well in most of their games, their major stumbling block has been the bluntness of their forward line.
The four strikers, who cost DeMbare around US$50 000 at the start of the year have scored a measly three goals between themselves in 13 outings.
This has prompted the club to comb around for a sure goal getter.
And they seem to have settled for Wadi who is out of contract following the expiry of his tenure at South Africa’s first division side JDR Stars.
Although there have been reported interest from South African top-flight sides including giants Kaizer Chiefs and AmaZulu, nothing solid has come out of it, at least for now.
But Dynamos are moving with speed, and they actually opened talks with the Wadi camp weeks before the lapse of his stay at South Africa’s JDR Stars on June 30.
A Dynamos executive member yesterday said a deal for Wadi was being finalised.
“Unless something dramatic props up, Ishmael Wadi will be joining Dynamos in the coming days.
“Our technical team led by Herbert Maruwa recommended him after seeing that he would be out of contract on June 30. “We backed their decision, and we are making frantic efforts to bring him to Dynamos,” he said.
“The talks are at an advanced stage, and everything is pointing at the right direction. If all goes well, we will be sealing everything in the coming days”.
Wadi is a proven goal scorer having served his former teams Bulawayo City, Harare City and CAPS United with distinction.
It was when he was with the Green Machine that he was noticed by JDR Stars when he was mesmerising in the Chibuku Super Cup in 2021.
The 30-year-old, who notched double figures in both seasons he has spent in South Africa, was also past of the Warriors squad that did duty at the African Cup of Nations in Cameroon early last year.
He opened the scoring in Zimbabwe’s must-win encounter against Malawi before the Warriors let go of the lead to lose the match 2-1 and effectively bowed out of the biannual jamboree.
With no tangible interest from some South African clubs, Dynamos can take full advantage and add lustre to a team searching for their first league title in nine years.
But, until they are certain of Wadi joining them, Dynamos will cling on to striker Evans Katema whom Maruwa is currently assessing. Katema, together with Martin Ofori, are in the Dynamos books but they were not registered to play at the start of the season.
Maruwa said the two could be registered this month.
“We are still having a look at both of them. We will see what happens in the coming days. We need good goal scorers and Katema is showing that he might provide the much-needed goals for us.
“But all that depends with a lot of factors. We really need to be very competitive at this stage of the marathon,” said Maruwa.
“I just hope we get the right momentum coupled with good form from my players”.
DeMbare will get to know how it feels playing home matches in Bulawayo this weekend when they host FC Platinum at Barbourfields on Saturday.
The Glamour Boys, just like fellow Harare giants CAPS United have adopted the iconic Bulawayo venue as their home ground due to the unavailability of standard stadiums in Harare.
And their opponents FC Platinum would feel they would also be playing at home as they have previously used the same venue in their CAF Champions league matches.
Fixture
Saturday: Bulawayo Chiefs v CAPS United (Luveve)
Dynamos v FC Platinum (B/F)
Yadah v Black Rhinos (Baobab)
Cranborne Bullets v Herentals (Nyamhunga)
Sunday: GreenFuel v Chicken Inn (Gibbo)
Hwange v ZPC Kariba (Colliery)
Highlanders v Triangle (B/F)
Sheasham v Ngezi Platinum (Bata)
Simba Bhora v Manica Diamonds (Baobab)
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