Davids excited by Zakri signing
Maritzburg United first confirmed‚ then denied his impending arrival‚ but Yannick Zakri has pitched up in the city to sign for the struggling club‚ which has lost the opening three matches and is in increasing need of a boost.
It is an arrival that has coach Fadlu Davids excited.
“A player of his quality will give us an edge‚” Davids said.
“You can see we are missing that x-factor in the final third since Evans Rusike left.”
Zimbabwe international Rusike moved to SuperSport United in January‚ one of several key departures that has left Maritzburg struggling to emulate the impressive form of their last campaign.
Zakri arrives from Mamelodi Sundowns as part of the R9m deal that saw Lebohang Maboe go to the league champions earlier in the month.
The Ivory Coast forward had visa problems which delayed his arrival by a week, but he flew in on Sunday and was at the Harry Gwala Stadium to watch his new teammates battle in the MTN8 quarterfinal at home to Cape Town City‚ which they lost 1-0.
Zakri is the final foreign acquisition for Maritzburg this season after they announced the arrival on Friday of Justice Figuaredo from Swaziland.
They already have Andrea Fileccia (Belgium)‚ Yazid Atouba (Cameroon) and Richard Ofori (Ghana) in their list of five foreigners allowed in terms of Premier Soccer League rules.
Kenyan international Brian Onyango has permanent residence and is now counted as a local‚ while Junior Zindoga from Zimbabwe is a South African citizen through his mother.