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Eddie Chikamhi Sports Reporter
HARARE giants Dynamos are in a race against time to finalise their squad for next year’s Champions League and have set themselves a 12-hour deadline to finalise negotiations with all the players they are targeting. DeMbare short-listed a squad of 19 players which they hope to send to Caf ahead of the preliminary deadline tomorrow.
“We are still negotiating and hopefully tomorrow (today) afternoon we will have finalised everything. If you look in that squad, there are also some players whom we have put in that list and we are still negotiating with them,” said team manager Richard Chihoro.
DeMbare were yesterday still trying to thrash out deals with Highlanders forward Milton Ncube, Walter Mukanga and Ronald Chitiyo, whom they have also included in their squad.
The Harare giants were left facing a crisis after failing to land some of their targeted players like Nelson Maziwisa and Donald Ngoma who decided to stay at FC Platinum this week.
DeMbare have lined up a two-year contract for defender and Soccer Star of the Year finalist Gift Bello who has been one of the consistent players at the club.
The Harare giants have sought to strengthen the backline by also bringing in tough-tackling former Motor Action and Buffaloes centre-back Themba Ndlovu.
While the defender is a good player, DeMbare, who needed bigger players like Eric Chipeta to balance their defence, will still be short on height at the back.
Chihoro said they were let down by strikers Maziwisa and Ngoma who have been long time targets of the Harare giants. DeMbare thought they would get at least one player after the pair’s contracts with FC Platinum ran out this month, but the Zvishavane side managed to convince both men to stay, with improved packages.
Defensive midfielder Devon Chafa, who is currently sitting on a Fifa ban, was not included in the squad as his contract has expired.
Chafa, who was on loan from Dickson Choto’s Northern Region Division One side DC Academy, will only be available in March after he was slapped with a six-month ban for testing positive to a banned substance.
Dynamos usually face the same problem at the beginning of the season and last year they had about 12 players who were David Kutyauripo, Thomas Magorimbo, Milton Makopa, Tichaona Mabvura, Tawanda Muparati, Denver Mukamba, Devon Chafa, Martin Vengesai and captain Desmond Maringwa whose contracts were up.
Online Reporter