Mutasa quits Dynamos

DYNAMOS' rebuilding exercise has suffered a big blow after two of their key players Elisha Muroiwa and Wisdom Mutasa yesterday joined the East African gravy train by agreeing terms with Tanzanian soccer side Singida United.

The duo brings to three the number of Zimbabwean players to join the newly-promoted side as they are now expected to link-up with Chicken Inn midfielder Tafadzwa Kutinyu at the club.

The trio is expected to move to Tanzania during the mid-season transfer window in June.

The Tanzanian league has attracted Zimbabweans of late and is home to former Warriors skipper Method Mwanjali (Simba), Bruce Kangwa (Azam), Thabani Kamusoko and Donald Ngoma (both Young Africans).

Dynamos acting secretary-general Graham Mafoko yesterday confirmed that their two players — Muroiwa and Mutasa — were on their way to Tanzania.

DeMbare, however, are on a rebuilding exercise as they look to replenish their stocks after losing almost half the core of their first team during the off-season period.

Mafoko refused to believe that the departure of the two players will harm coach Lloyd Mutasa's efforts at assembling a competitive side this year.

"It's something that the president (Kenny Mubaiwa) has been handling and I am sure the coach and everyone else at the team was aware of it.

"Actually we had made plans beforehand and I think we will be able to fill in the slots automatically when those guys leave.

"When we signed Lincoln Zvasiya nobody knew what we were doing but now we have four central defenders who are equally good.

"The departure of Muroiwa would still mean that there is Obey Mwerahari, Marshal Machazani and Zvasiya all competing for the same position. Still we stand guided by the coaches on the way forward," said Mafoko.

DeMbare coach Lloyd Mutasa yesterday gave his blessings to the duo of Muroiwa and his son Wisdom on their move to greener pastures at the newly-promoted Tanzanian side Singida United. The Harare giants are likely to benefit from the move since the two players still had running contracts.

Muroiwa, who played all of Zimbabwe's matches at this year's African Cup of Nations finals in Gabon after shaking off a nagging shin injury, will make his first foreign move at 27 while Wisdom (22), with age on his side, will be looking to revitalise his career which almost stalled two years ago following an uninformed decision to ditch Slovak side FK Seneca before the end of his contract.

But the former Young Warriors man, who also played for ZPC Kariba, appeared to have found comfort under his father at Dynamos and as a result his performance plummeted.

Singida United have also been linked with Caps United's Simba Nhivi.

The clubs in the East African country have upped their stakes with good sponsorship in the past few years and are attracting many players from the region to enrich their league.

Singida United are based in the Singida region in central Tanzania and are reportedly owned by businessman Yusuf Mwandami, who is a Yanga SC member.

The club is also said to be bankrolled by the Tanzanian Minister for Home Affairs Mwigulu Nchemba, who is the Member of Parliament for the area.

They have experienced a phenomenal rise from the third tier to the Tanzanian First Division which they won last year to get a ticket to play in that country's Premiers League.

As a demonstration of their seriousness at the top level, the club recently hired experienced Dutch coach Hans van der Plujjm on a two-year contract.

But their gain could leave Dynamos a bit shaken, especially in central defence where they have few options.

However, DeMbare coach Lloyd Mutasa said the fact that the players are scheduled to leave in June will not hamper his plans for the first half of the season where he was given an ambitious target to aim for 23 points from the first 10 games.

"I'm sure if they are going they will only be leaving after June, at least that's what we have discussed with my superiors. So I am happy that for this half of the season we will have all the players that we trained with during the pre-season.

"Our focus at the moment is on the first half of the season and then we will see what happens later," said Mutasa.

The former Dynamos midfielder last week said he was done with his 30-member squad ahead of the close of the transfer window this Friday.

Dynamos are going through a difficult period which has seen them being bullied on the market by some of the "young turks" in the Premiership.

For the umpteenth time, the Harare giants have been forced to go the way of holding trials to recruit players after giving up on the competition for big names with well-oiled opponents such as FC Platinum, Harare City, Ngezi Platinum Stars, How Mine and Triangle.