Zungu set for crunch Amiens talks

Bongani Zungu is expected to hold serious talks with his parent club Amiens in France regarding his future now that his loan stint at Rangers is nearing the end.

The Bafana Bafana midfielder was a late addition to Steven Gerrard’s outfit in October last year, but the Scottish giants could only agree a short-term deal with Amiens with an option to buy the player outright eight months later.

Amiens, who were relegated to Ligue 2 last season, had placed an initial fee of R77 million as Zungu’s price tag, but it was revised to R48 million earlier this year.

Now, with the loan agreement coming to an end, Zungu must return to Amiens if Rangers and his parent club can’t finalise fresh terms on the midfielder’s future.

The Siya crew has in on good authority that the player and his camp aren’t keen on seeing Zungu return to France and play second division football, especially after tasting European football and winning the Scottish Premiership with Rangers.

But the final decision, however, rests with Amiens, who still have the 28-year-old tied down to a contract until June 2022.

If they can t agree a deal with Rangers or a potential suitor, then Zungu will have to wait until he sees out his contract next year and can only sign a pre-contract in January.

What will work in his favour though is that Amiens are unlikely to allow a player of his stature to leave on a free, the priority will be to cash in, especially seeing as their coffers have taken a hit now that they have dropped to a lower division.

Add COVID-19 to the equation and selling the player makes sense.

Indications are that Zungu’s camp will meet with Amiens in the coming weeks to assess a way forward, though coach Oswald Tanchot has made it clear he would like to have the Bafana star as part of his squad next season.