‘Wits not in hurry to sign Mutizwa’

Senior Sports Reporter
SOUTH African Premiership side Bidvest Wits are not in a hurry to sign Highlanders striker Knox Mutizwa, as the player is set to be loaned back to Bosso. Mutizwa’s agent Gibson Mahachi said he will be only travelling to South Africa on Thursday for talks with Wits over the matter. In the event that the Absa Premiership side signs Mutizwa, the player will only sign the contract when he returns from Rwanda where he is representing Zimbabwe at the African Nations Championship in which runs from 16 January to 7 February.
“I am meeting with the guys from Wits on Thursday, once we agree and once Highlanders agree, he can sign when he returns from Chan. Wits are not in a hurry to sign Knox because the idea was always to loan him back to Highlanders until June,’’ said Mahachi.

On reports indicating that Highlanders’ demands could be delaying the finalisation of the agreement, Mahachi said there was no truth in that as what Bosso had asked from Wits for Mutizwa was a sensible amount.

He could, however, not be drawn into revealing the exact figure that the Bulawayo giants are asking for, for the 2015 Castle Lager Golden Boot winner.
However, Bosso are believed to be asking for an amount in the region of $100 000 from Wits for Mutizwa.

“You can’t say they (Highlanders) are asking for too much, it is something reasonable, I cannot talk about those figures, they remain confidential,’’ said Mahachi.
The 22-year-old Mutizwa seems to have impressed the Gavin Hunt-led Wits technical team when he twice went for trials at the Johannesburg-based club last month.

However, his chances of joining Wits for the remainder of the Absa Premiership season vanished when the Clever Boys captured 30-year-old English striker James Keene at the beginning of this month which saw them fill up the fifth foreign quota slot that is allowed in that country.

Wits’ idea of loaning Mutizwa back to Highlanders is viewed in some quarters as an admission that he is an unfinished product who still needs more time in Zimbabwe ahead of next season which starts in July.