adminThere are reports that a number of UAE clubs have expressed a huge interest in Mushekwi, who has been enjoying his game at the Brazilians after a shaky start to his Sundowns career.
United Arab Emirates clubs have reportedly shown a keen interest in prizing Mushekwi , his club captain Teko Modise and Kaizer Chiefs’ Lehlohonolo Majoro to their lucrative league.
Speedy Zimbabwean international striker Edward Sadomba is playing in the United Arab Emirates, having left Sudanese giants Al Hilal at the start of the year.
The UAE league has also attracted some big names on the international football scene, including veteran Egyptian midfielder Mohamed Aboutreika, Ghana’s Asamoah Gyan, Luca Toni, David Trezeguet and Italy’s world cup winning captain Fabio Cannavaro.
But Mushekwi’s agent, Ralph Nkomo, insisted yesterday that the player will not be heading to Dubai, even though the clubs in this oil rich gulf have mega bucks to splash.
Nkomo, speaking from his base in Johannesburg, yesterday said that Europe and Germany in particular remained their top priority destination for Mushekwi.
“We are not looking at or even considering any move to the United Arab Emirates at the moment. The priority is Belgium or Germany. We have two Belgian clubs and one in Germany that have strong interest in the player. In fact, the one club in Belgium is very interested but I think Nyasha’s style suits German football.
“Here in South Africa we have two other big clubs that are also interested in him,’’’ Nkomo said.
Although Mushekwi’s stock has been growing with each season, Nkomo believes the former CAPS United man, who began his sporting career as a basketballer, has always courted interest from European teams, largely because of his aggressive attacking style.
“Nyasha has always created a lot of interest from a number of clubs but we couldn’t get the proper clearance from Sundowns to do business but we are looking at finding an amicable solution from Sundowns and a proper position from the European clubs.
“But as for the UAE, it can only be in four or five years’ time,’’ Nkomo said.
Despite the Brazilians appearing keen to retain their man and having exercised the one-year option they had on Mushekwi’s contract, media reports in that country indicated that Zimbabwean may soon be lost to South African football if the interest for his services from three European clubs is anything to go by.
Mushekwi’s contract was due to run out at the end of the current season but the Brazilians have quietly exercised the one-year-option contained in one of the clauses of the deal.
“Sundowns exercised the one-year option on Nyasha’s contract. Even when the one year lapses, the club still has the option of another year. This means potentially, the player can stay with the club for two years,” Nkomo told KickOff.com.
However, Nkomo further revealed that two clubs from Germany have indicated a willingness to buy out the clause on the player’s contract in order to rope in his services.
“Currently we are engaging with the Sundowns management about the interest of these clubs.
“I cannot reveal the identity of the teams that are interested in Nyasha.
“We are meeting with Sundowns over this but what I can tell you is that the player is in high demand. I cannot reveal the identities of the clubs that I am talking about at this stage as doing so might complicate the discussions that we are holding with them,” Nkomo said.
Mamelodi Sundowns spokesperson Kabelo Mosito refused to go into detail when asked to shed light on the interest of European clubs on Mushekwi.
“As far as I know, there is no club from Germany that has officially come with an offer for Nyasha’s signature. We are in the middle of a phase where we are dealing with our players’ contracts and an announcement in this regard will be made by the club at the appropriate time.
“Nyasha is our player but we are used to reading reports linking him with other clubs.
“As I said, we will make our position known regarding his future and the future of other players at the club,” Mosito said.
Online Reporter