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MTL Wanderers have been hit below the belt by Zimbabwe’s newly-promoted Premier League outfit Monomotapa which has silently lured three of their key international players namely goal tender Phillip ‘MG 1’ Nyasulu and defenders Allan Kamanga and James Sangala.
The nomads were hit by storm at the weekend to learn that the three sneaked to Zimbabwe’s capital Harare last week and are already in Monomotapa’s camp.
To make matters even worse, the nomads are also on the verge of losing their midfield workhorse Lawrence ‘Tico Tico’ Majawa who has reportedly been employed by the Malawi Army.
Wanderers’ boss Sydney Chikoti took it on the chin on Monday admitting that they have been taken unawares.
“I have just heard that they are with Monomotapa but they didn’t get our blessings to travel there.
“The only thing I know is that Allan approached me last week to say there was a Zimbabwean team which is interested in his services and what I advised him was that the club should contact us and not him because that is the normal procedure.
“To my surprise, the next thing I heard was that Allan is in Zimbabwe. As for Phillip, he didn’t even make an effort to tell us about his move,” explained Chikoti.
The Wanderers chair also said Sangala only communicated after he had already left.
“He phoned me to say his uncle has arranged a club for him that side, he didn’t mention the name of the team,” said Chikoti. However, reports indicate that Sangala is also with Monomotapa.
Chikoti said in view of the development, the nomads are in the process of getting in touch with the Zimbabwean club to find out what is happening.
“The normal process should have been Monomotapa contacting us directly and not otherwise but it also seems like the impression the players gave to Monomotapa is that they are free agents which is not right,” he said.
Added Chikoti: “We cannot block them from prospects of a brighter future, they are free to go but procedures have to be followed. The only player that we may want to hold on to is perhaps James Sangala because he is still in the process of development.”
According to a Zimbabwean weekly tabloid The Standard, Nyasulu, Kamanga and former Bakili Bullets captain Peter ‘Mjojo’ Mponda featured for Monomotapa in a friendly match against Motor Action which the former won 2-0.
The paper reported that Nyasulu was between the goal posts for Monomotapa on Saturday before being substituted at half-time while Kamanga played a full game.
It further reported that all three Malawians played with the maturity their international experience merit and could be vital additions to a promising team in the new season.
Efforts to talk to Monomotapa as well as the three players proved futile but Monomotapa vice-chairman, Solomon Mugavazi, was quoted as saying his side had already taken Nyasulu on board and has been assessing right-back Kamanga and hoped to add him to the side.
In a related development, Chikoti also revealed that Majawa is on the brink of quitting the nomads having secured a job with the Malawi Army.
“There is nothing we can do on that but we were disappointed that Majawa did not tell us anything about the development, he just stopped reporting for training,” said Chikoti.
He confessed that the latest developments will affect their preparations for the new season.
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