Author: BENJAMIN BEN
AfricaPress-Tanzania: AZAM FC yesterday admitted that midfielder Salum Abubakar ‘Sure Boy’ has shown interest to leave the club as talks with Young Africans to sign the player are progressing well.
According to the available reports, Yanga officially submitted the letter showing interest to sign Sure Boy on Tuesday and that since then, talks between the two sides have been held.
But, speaking yesterday, Azam’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Abdulkarim Amin ‘Popat’ said after receiving the letter, the management of the club had a meeting with the coach Aristica Cioaba whom he said wants to keep Sure Boy in his squad next season.
“After the meeting, we then responded to Yanga informing them that the player is still wanted by the club as such, it would be difficult to release him.
“At night, I again personally talked with him (Sure Boy) but this time around, he said he is interested to leave the club to seek challenge elsewhere and as you know, if a player responds like that, it means anything can happen since football is business,” he said.
He added: “At the moment, we are just waiting to hear from Yanga as to whether they will write us another letter or not, but at the moment that is the scenario.”
Moreover, the CEO said Sure Boy has a one-year and some days contract with Azam and that they have invested a lot in the player as such, he declined to publicly announce his value.
“As you know, he is our long term serving player from the Third Division League (TDL) and he is an icon of our team but we are just waiting for them to come back again,” he said.
Since the opening of the transfer window, Azam have been busy on the market signing players they think would give them what they deserve next season.
So far, they have brought to the Azam Complex four new players who are Awesu Awesu (Kagera Sugar), Ismael Aziz Kada (Tanzania Prisons), Ayoub Lyanga (Coastal Union) and Rwandan Ally Niyonzima.
Meanwhile, It has been reported that ater being released, former Young Africans skipper Papy Tshishimbi said he will go back to his native country DR Congo before deciding his next move.
Tshishimbi was among the 14 players who have been offloaded by the Jangwani Street-based side following their failure to reach agreement on possible contract extension.
It has widely been reported that the midfielder wanted a big amount of money to stay at the club the next season while his employer offered less to his demands; hence a breakup of the relationship.
But speaking via a telephone conversation, a soft spoken Tshishimbi, said he is planning to head back to DR Congo where he will have ample time to think about his future.
“If you want to know the truth about why I have been let go by Yanga, it is better for you to ask the leaders of the club since they are the ones ready to tell you the truth and not me,” he said.
Queried whether he has plans to join any other club from Tanzania, Tshishimbi replied that such plans are there but he wants to go back to DR Congo first.
In a related development, Yanga have responded to claims made by many people that they are wrong to continue signing players before hiring the new coach first.
“People should understand that we have a technical committee which has got talented people who know a lot about football and the ongoing signings are their recommendations,” said Information Officer Hassan Bumbuli.
He added: “You cannot satisfy everybody. Those who have been released are the ones which the club has seen that they should go while those remaining are the ones whose services are still needed.”
Moreover, Bumbuli observed that out of the 38 games that Yanga played last season, none of the omitted players managed to play at least 15 games of the team’s starting lineup saying it clearly shows that they were not effective enough to continue serving at the club.
“We are signing players so that the new coach should find players in the team and that is what happens all over the world,” Bumbuli said confidently.
He also elaborated that the procedures to scrutinise 64 applications they have received from people seeking to coach the club is underway.
