Bidvest Wits to loan Mutizwa back to Bosso?

SOUTH African Premiership side Bidvest Wits are most likely going to loan striker Knox Mutizwa back to Highlanders after they sign him during this month's transfer window period.

Wits announced the signing of English striker James Keene on New Year's Day whose capture has filled the fifth foreign slot that clubs in the Absa Premiership are allowed.

The development effectively means that if the Clever Boys make Mutizwa (pictured left) their player, the player cannot feature in the South African Premier Soccer League until they pave way for him during the next July transfer window.

Keene joins Burundian Papy Faty, Namibian Wangu Gome, New Zealander Kris Bright and Portuguese Joaquim Lupeta as the foreign players at Wits. Mutizwa's agent Gibson Mahachi said he had been in touch with Wits chief executive Jose Ferreira who indicated that they were still interested in signing Mutizwa. Mahachi expects the deal to be finalised in the coming weeks after everyone at Wits is back from holiday.

Mahachi pointed out that Wits had always indicated their intentions to keep Mutizwa at Highlanders and take him to South Africa midway through the year. It was the same arrangement which Mamelodi Sundowns made with Highlanders when they signed Kudakwashe Mahachi from Chicken Inn in 2014 when they decided to loan him to Highlanders until July of that year.

"Wits are still interested in the deal. I spoke to their CEO last Thursday, they should come up with something. Right from the beginning, they always indicated that they wanted to loan him back to Highlanders, it has taken long for the deal to be finalised because of the holidays,'' said Mahachi.

On whether Highlanders' asking price for the player could be throwing spanners into the works, Mahachi explained that Bosso were within their rights to put any price tag on the striker and Wits were supposed to counter that.

Highlanders are believed to have sent Wits an offer said to be around $100 000 for the Castle Lager Premiership Golden Boot winner which Wits are yet to respond to.

"It is their (Highlanders) right to ask for what they think the boy is worth. It is not anything out of this world that is the starting point for negotiations, we should have a position in the coming days,'' said Mahachi.

Mutizwa impressed the Gavin Hunt-led Wits technical team when he twice went for trials with the Johannesburg based club last month. Mahachi is convinced that it would be hard for Wits not to capture the 22-year-old because of the way he performed when given the opportunity at the club.

The Highlanders striker is in the Warriors camp that is preparing for the African Nations Championship in Rwanda which starts on 16 January. He is sure to make the final squad to travel to the Great Lakes Region.

Mutizwa attracted a lot of interest from both local and foreign clubs in 2015 because of his prolific goal scoring form which saw him find the target 14 times in the league despite having missed the first nine matches of the season after suffering burns during an alleged domestic dispute.

He also skipped matches for Bosso in September when he went to represent the country at the Africa Games in Congo Brazzaville.

There were fears that Bosso were not going to benefit much from his sale save for meagre development fees as his two-year contract had expired at the end of 2015.

Highlanders in November managed to convince the striker to sign a one-year extension to his stay at the 90-year-old club.