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extend his contract by another year, was sealed between his representatives and the English Premiership club on Wednesday.
Blackburn Rovers have also pledged to help in funding a football school of excellence, which Benjani wants to establish in Zimbabwe, as part of the relationship between the two parties.
The veteran striker, who turns 33 on August 13 this year, has been told to join his teammates when Blackburn Rovers travel for a week-long training camp in Austria next week.
Blackburn will leave England on Saturday, next week, for their training camp in Austria and Benjani is expected to travel straight to Vienna to link up with his teammates.
Benjani, who is currently on holiday in his hometown of Bulawayo, will possibly sign his part of the deal in Austria during that training camp.
Speculation had been rife that Benjani could leave Blackburn Rovers during this English summer after his name was included among a list of players who were being released by the club.
This triggered a media frenzy, especially among the British tabloids, and the Daily Mirror went a step further on Wednesday to claim that Benjani was so desperate for a contract he was not only prepared to play in
the second-tier Championship but also wanted to get a British passport.
While Benjani will qualify for British residency, after completing his new one-year deal with Blackburn Rovers, there is a big difference between holding a residency status and acquiring citizenship.
The tabloids even claimed that Benjani was looking for a new house in the London area.
But on Wednesday, Benjani’s representatives and Blackburn officials, thrashed out a new one-year deal that will keep the Zimbabwean striker at Ewood Park for another season.
Although no comment could be obtained from Benjani yesterday, The Herald established that a deal was struck on Wednesday after Rovers’ manager Steve Kean, who had promised the Zimbabwean forward reward for his strong performance in the second half of the season, decided to stick with his man.
Crucially, Benjani will be on the same contract terms, which he enjoyed last season and which he favoured in the event of a deal, and the English Premiership side have also promised to pour money into a football academy that the striker wants to set up here.
“It’s a done deal and Benjie, as he has always insisted, will be at Blackburn Rovers this coming season,” said the sources yesterday.
“The negotiations were completed on Wednesday and he will be on the same terms, in terms of his package, that he was last season, and that was what he wanted for this deal to go through.
“Once the deal was concluded Benjie was advised and was asked to get in touch with his manager Steve Kean for a discussion on the developments and what the club expected.
“Benjie is now set to fly straight to Austria, for the pre-season training camp, because arrangements had already been made for the other squad members.”
Blackburn boss Kean recently revealed that he wants to keep “the fans on their feet” by combining a solid defensive strategy with an eye-catching brand of front-foot football.
Kean tested his tactics, with devastating effects, in the final day victory at Wolves, as Rovers raced into a 3-0 half-time lead.
The manager told the club’s official website that he intends to stick with two strikers but will be looking for the forwards to contribute more goals in the coming campaign.
“The way we are trying to play now is to build on a solid defensive strategy by being dynamic and having pace in the wide areas,” he said.
“I want us to play as much with two up front and fast-flowing football. If we can do that – and keep the back door shut – then I think we’ll have the fans up on their feet.
“What we need to do now is make sure we get the goals at the right end of the pitch. That has been the thing that has been tough to come by.
“We didn’t have any strikers in double figures, which made it difficult. The other areas chipped in, like Junior Hoilett, Brett Emerton and Martin Olsson.
“We ended the season playing well – getting seven positive results in our last nine games. We’ll now try to hit the ground running when we return for pre-season in July.”
Blackburn have a busy pre-season in which they will also be in Hong Kong for a number of matches.
Benjani set the tone for his extended stay at Blackburn Rovers when he revealed, in an interview with English newspaper The Lancashire Telegraph this week, that he was relishing another season at the club and
never considered looking for a fresh challenge.
He revealed that he had been offered a new one-year contract and all that remained were small details that were going to be finalised in a few days.
A deal, as we report today, was then struck on Wednesday.
“Yes, yes, I will be back at Blackburn Rovers again next season,” Benjani told the Lancashire Telegraph.
“I think the deal will be finalised in the next few days and then I can look forward to doing my best with the club.
“I don’t know if there were other clubs who wanted me because I always wanted to come back to Blackburn. I hope that will be sorted now.”
Benjani scored three Premiership goals for Blackburn last season, suffering from limited appearances at the club, with the highlight being his double strike in a memorable win over Liverpool.
And it was that performance, more than anything, which bonded Benjani to Kean.
“It was not only the finish from Benjani, he showed great awareness and his overall hold-up play was good,” the Blackburn manager said after that match.
“He has had a tough time with injury and a few of weeks ago we didn’t think he was fit enough to last so we put him gradually into games.
“But he showed, up until the last 10 minutes when he hit a little bit of a wall, he is certainly ready and he has a big impact to give to the team from the start of the game not just as a sub.
“He is a great player and has great awareness of where the central defenders are and if you asked the Liverpool centre-halves if they had an easy night against Benjani, they had a real tough evening.
“That can only be good for us.”
It brought the confidence that the striker wanted to end the season strongly and this appears to have convinced Kean that it was worth the risk to give him another chance.
“Benjani has done really well for us,” said Kean last month.
“The type of lad he is, he is happy to have a role as an impact player as a substitute or, if he is in good form and has a run in the team, then I think he has shown he is a guy defenders don’t want to play against. He certainly had a strong end to the season.”
Benjani has also played for Portsmouth and Manchester City in the English Premiership and last year he quit international football to concentrate on what remains of a club career that is in its twilight phase.
Online Reporter