DeMbare in driving seat to get Chafa
DYNAMOS seem to be in the driving seat to win the heart of combative midfielder Devon Chafa amid indications the Warriors man could be on his way to re-joining the Glamour Boys after a stint at arch-rivals CAPS United where he found his lost touch.
Chafa, who is a free agent after his contract with Makepekepe ended last year, returned from a trial-stint with Egyptian top-flight teams recently and was largely expected to sign a fresh deal with the Green Machine.
But the reigning CAPS United Fans’ Player of the Year appears reluctant to enter into a new agreement with the team he helped win the league championship in 2016. He is demanding to be paid about $11 000 he is owed in sign-on arrears before he can commit himself for another dance with Makepekepe.
And DeMbare, who do not have a natural holding midfielder after the departure of Tichaona Chipunza to Ngezi Platinum Stars, appear poised to be the beneficiary of the stand-off between the two parties.
Although Chafa’s agent Gibson Mahachi was not reachable for comment yesterday, sources at Dynamos yesterday told The Herald that Chafa’s deal was imminent.
“Devon Chafa and Dynamos are very close to sealing a deal, which will see the midfielder returning to Dynamos.
“Chafa is very willing to re-join Dynamos and from what I know at the moment, he will sooner, rather than later, be retracing his footsteps to Dynamos.
“Talks between the two parties are now at a very advanced stage. As I speak, unless something dramatic happens, Chafa will most likely be playing for Dynamos this season,” said the sources.
As if on clue, coach Lloyd Mutasa also gave some strong indications the midfielder would be playing for his team.
“I would not want to say some issues which are administrative. But what I can tell you at the moment is that as a coach, I am very excited just to know Chafa is a free agent as of now.
“Knowing how much he loves Dynamos and how much he knows the belief I have in him, I think it could happen.
“Every coach obviously wants to work with a player of Chafa’s quality. He is disciplined and his work ethic is unquestionable. He is obviously one of the best midfielders around. I have worked with him before and we understand each other well. It will definitely be good if he is to re-join Dynamos since we need players of his quality to achieve our 2018 target, which is to win the league title,” he said.
Although Dynamos already have a handful of players who can be entrusted with the holding midfield role like Blessing Moyo, Obey Mwerehari and Gift Saunyama, Chafa’s arrival would be sweet news as he brings an extra dimension and can also score goals, including some spectacular ones.
Leonard Tsipa, Dominic Chungwa and Tafadzwa Rusike once moved to Dynamos from CAPS United and then returned to the Green Machine.
Simba Nhivi has also criss-crossed between the two giants.
Mutasa will have a chance to gauge his team’s strength on Sunday in double-header friendly matches against Division One clubs Buffaloes and Mushowani at Rufaro.
The Glamour Boys will start the season without fullback Peace Makaha, who has been ruled out until the end of next month because of injury.