Fulham eye Mushekwi

side Fulham, as his stock continues to skyrocket, following his highly successful debut season in South Africa’s Super Diski.
The powerful 23-year-old forward, who is deadly both in the air and on the ground, took his league goal tally to eight goals in 17 matches on Sunday, in which he has only started nine times, after a double strike guided Mamelodi Sundowns to a 3-1 win over Santos in Pretoria.
Mushekwi is now only two goals behind fellow countryman Knowledge Musona, the Kaizer Chiefs’ forward, who leads the race for the Golden Boot in the Super Diski.
The former CAPS United hitman, who won the Golden Boot in his final full season in the domestic Premiership in 2009, has not escaped the attention of European clubs and reports indicate that English Premiership side Fulham have been closely monitoring his progress.
Mushekwi fits well into the type of strikers favoured by English teams given his built, his pace, his threat in the air, his eye for goal and his conversion rate.
Fifa agent Ralph Nkomo, who is also the manager of Warriors’ leftback Onismor Bhasera, told The Herald in the French capital Paris at the weekend that there was growing interest in Mushekwi in Europe.
“I think Nyasha fits the bill well because of his physique, which makes him the old-fashioned African centre forward that English clubs usually want because they have seen it work well with the likes of Didier Drogba,” said Nkomo.
“He has this physical presence about him and the fact that he scores goals and has pace has all helped boost his profile here and his name keeps cropping up when enquiries are made related to strikers.
“Fulham have been tracking him and, now that the transfer window has closed, we have to see how he continues to develop over the next few months until the end of the season.
“Contact has been made with his handlers about the possibility of Mushekwi coming to play in Europe soon and I think it’s all shaping up nicely and there is no need to rush things and all that the boy needs to do is to continue scoring goals.”
With Sundowns’ chief striker Katlego Mphela, who has been Absent Without Official Leave as he presses for a move from the team to Europe, now certain to leave the club, Mushekwi is now certain to get an extended stay in the starting XI of the team.
Sundowns face leaders Orlando Pirates in a key top-of-the-table tie at Orlando Stadium in Soweto on Saturday night.
Club president Patrice Motsepe opened the door for Mphela’s departure from Sundowns when he told the team’s official website that, if it was his choice, the Bafana Bafana star would never play for his team again.
“If it was my decision I could have said that he will not play for Sundown’s again. We cannot have players behaving like that because that is not a good example to other players,” said Motsepe.
“I know he will appear before the DC (disciplinary committee) and we will take it from there. We care for our players but they should also behave. Personally, I think it is wise he leaves the club.”
South African football agent Walter Mokoena, who is now based in Paris where he intends to boost his career as a football agent, said Mushekwi was on the right track for a move to Europe.
“Interestingly, I have not seen much of Mushekwi in action but, from what I have gathered from my contacts and sources, I believe he is the right striker for Europe,” said Mokoena.
“Before Sundowns brought him to South Africa, I had a chat with the club’s head of technical affairs, Trott Moloto, and he told me that they were signing this big Zimbabwean striker who was certainly going to make    big waves and quickly move to Europe.
“I have never doubted Trott and I think Mushekwi has settled well, given the goals that he has scored in his first season, and also taking into account the fact that he has not started all the matches and has been used as a substitute in most of the matches.
“His advantage, from the little that I saw in him, is his built because he is big and powerful and that’s what European clubs want in players, especially the strikers, because they want one whose presence is felt in the box and who is not easily pushed away by the defenders.”
Mokoena, who worked for SABC for 10 years and became its main football anchor after the departure of Robert Marawa to SuperSport, now owns Mokoena Sports Media and has been named as one of the 50 Most Influential People in South African football.
That list also includes Motsepe, Kaizer Chiefs’ owner Kaizer Motaung, Orlando Pirates’ owner Irvin Khoza and 2010 World Cup organising committee chief executive Danny Jordaan.
Mokoena manages a number of South African Premiership players including Chiefs’ Mandla Masango and Thabang Rooi, Ajax Cape Town’s Diyo Sibiso and Happy Jele of Orlando Pirates.
He said Mushekwi appeared to have the edge, in terms of prospects for a move to Europe, than Musona because of his strength and big physical presence.
“There is no questioning that Musona is exciting and he has this X Factor which means that he is likely to produce something magical, at any minute, when he is in the box,” said Mokoena.
“He has proved his class in South Africa and I know him well because I first saw him when he played for the Zimbabwe Under-17 against South Africa in a Cosafa match and he came in as a substitute and scored three times.
“I tracked him back to Zimbabwe and made some contacts but I was not involved when he eventually came to Chiefs. But I think he remains lightweight, in terms of his physical features, and if he improves his strength then he could brighten his chances of a move to Europe.
“But he is young, which is good, and I think Chiefs are working with him on that.”
While Musona has been capturing all the headlines in South Africa and is now the golden boy of Super Diski, it is Mushekwi who has been drawing the interests of European teams.
A number of African agents, who are based in Paris, told The Herald last week that while there has been a buzz about Musona in South Africa, and his profile has been forwarded to some European teams, there are concerns among the clubs that he appears lightweight to make an impact in the physical leagues of Europe.
Apparently French club Lille tracked Musona last year and, after studying a number of videos presented to them about the player, they decided that while he was deadly in the box, his small frame would make him struggle against the tough defenders of Ligue 1.