Online Reporter
Tadious Manyepo-Zimpapers Sports Hub
DYNAMOS coach Lloyd “Ma Blanyo” Chigowe says his team can have a more secure shape if they manage to keep the experienced duo of defender Emmanuel Jalai and goalkeeper Martin Mapisa for the 2025 Castle Lager Premier Soccer League season.
The Glamour Boys have seen their spine from last season severely tempered after losing some of their key players, who include 2024 skipper Frank Makarati, Donald Mudadi, Emmanuel Ziocha, Frederick Ansah-Botshway, Kevin Moyo, Emmanuel Paga, and Sadney Urikhob to their league rivals.
But Chigowe has been trying to pull together the available pieces with the return of Shadreck Nyahwa, whose move to GreenFuel suffered a still-birth and Temptation Chiwunga boosting his efforts. The availability of some players with institutional memory, like Elton Chikona, Tendaishe Magwaza, Prince Tafiremutsa, Donald Dzvinyai, and Valentine Kadonzvo, have given more steel to the rebuilding job.
And now, Chigowe is hoping to see Jalai and Mapisa making their way back into the Dynamos dressing room.
The pair has initially been a huge doubt for the domestic league this season, but the latest developments in their separate career paths have given Chigowe some hope pertaining to their potential return to the club.
Jalai, a 2024 Soccer Star of the Year finalist, is understood to be frantically combing for better opportunities outside the country, including in China. He has reportedly been undergoing some auditions, although he refused to comment about it when Zimpapers Sports Hub asked him.
But it looks like the trials have not quite produced a favourable outcome, and the diminutive defender could be forced to retrace his footsteps back home.
And Chigowe, while wishing to see Jalai making it big in his career, also wants to see him playing for Dynamos as long as he is still in the local league. Jalai has been the most senior player at DeMbare, having joined in 2019, and Chigowe wants to hand him the captaincy if he avails himself to the team.
The right-back was Makarati’s deputy and would naturally be elevated to fill in the gap created by the departure of Makarati.
“I am hoping to see Jalai (Emmanuel) coming back and be able to lead the squad.
“He is the leader of this orchestra. And we will be eager to see him back,” said Chigowe.
“We all know that he is a leader both on and off the field of play. He will lead the squad that we are trying to build here. We have lost a number of players as a team, but we are trying to patch up.
“I wouldn’t say we are completely in the forest, no, but we have somewhere to start from. “And if we can have someone like Jalai leading the team, I know we will be very stable.
“So, it is my hope to see him coming back and giving us the value that he has always given over the years.” Chigowe confirmed that Mapisa was in talks with the club executives after the expiry of his contract last December.
The lanky goalkeeper, who had a stint in Spain, was linked with a move to Zambian giants ZESCO United, but again the move seems to have not materialised.
Instead, he is engaging with the Dynamos leadership with the hope of getting an improved deal. “For Mapisa, well, I understand there are some talks going on between him and the executive. “Those are personal issues, but otherwise we do not have any problems with any players,” added Chigowe.
“We are glad that Shadreck (Nyahwa) has trooped back and also Temptation (Chiwunga). So, we are not completely in a forest.
“We have tried to inculcate into the new players the values expected at Dynamos. I don’t have any doubts about their capabilities.”
