Evans Katema joins Zanaco?
EVANS Katema’s gods have kept smiling on him after playing just a single season in the local Premiership as he is on the verge of signing for Zambian football giants Zanaco.
The dreadlocked 31-year-old Dynamos striker has been offered a lucrative deal and could put pen to paper if he passes his medicals set for this week.
Dynamos spokesperson Tinashe Farawo confirmed the development yesterday.
“I can confirm that Evans Katema has been invited for medicals by Zanaco FC in Zambia. As soon as he passes those medicals, he will immediately sign for that team,” said Farawo.
“We had made it a point not to sell the player to any local bidders. Virtually all teams in the country wanted him but we made it clear that he was not for sale.
“But, we cannot stand in his way when a club of Zanaco’s magnitude comes knocking on the door requiring his services. It is an opportunity for him to try and further his career in a competitive league.”
Yet, just over a year ago, Katema was playing in the less glamorous Northern Region Division One with Mushowani Stars.
He helped them grab the sole ticket into the top-flight last season where he proved to be a standout player, banging in seven goals in 15 games for the under-funded side which has since been relegated.
He couldn’t stay with the Newman Mashipe charges as Dynamos snapped him up in the mid-season transfer window.
At DeMbare, Katema scored a further five goals to help Dynamos finish in mid-table and he has of late been rumoured to be interested in joining Dynamos’ arch-rivals CAPS United.
His form last season earned him a place in both the local-based Warriors and the Soccer Stars’ calendar becoming one of the very few players to do so in their debut seasons in the top-flight. Zanaco seem to have developed an appetite for Zimbabwean players after former CAPS United midfielder Tafadzwa Rusike’s successful stint with the Lusaka-based side. Rusike, at one time wore the captain’s armband for one of Zambia’s football giants as he mesmerised with his trademark body swerve.
Rusike has since joined Zanaco’s FAZ Super League rivals ZESCO United and the former have decided to retain a Zimbabwean flair in their squad by roping in Katema.
More and more Zimbabwean players are heading to north with the 2019 Soccer Star of the Year Joel Ngodzo having already signed for Buildcon.
Former Ngezi Platinum Stars striker Donald Teguru and Harare City right-back Takudzwa Chimwemwe have also signed for the same club. Meanwhile, Katema’s old club Mushowani could disband due to lack of funds.Virtually all the players who were with the team in the league have been signed by clubs in the top-tier this off-season.
BLACK RHINOS coach Herbert Maruwa has survived the chop while the army side have roped in Jairos Tapera as manager ahead of the 2020 Castle Lager Premiership football season.
Maruwa’s future at the helm of Chauya Chipembere has been in doubt after the club finished a lowly 10th-place in the 2019 season despite a strong start.
But the team’s newly-elected executive has resolved to give the former Dynamos assistant another bite at the cherry this coming season.