Africa-Press – Tanzania. AZAM have reached an agreement to sign Zambian international Paul Katema from Red Arrows.
The signing of Katema who was part of Zambian national team squad that participated in African Cup of Nations finals for local players (Chan) was the demand of Chamazi based Coach George Lwandamina as their plan to build the team ahead of next season’s local and international l tournament.
Azam’s spokesman Thabiti Zakaria confirmed the signing of 23-year old Chipolopolo midfielder after the completion of agreement between the player and his club and the box to box midfielder will play for Azam for the next two seasons.
“We have snatched Paul Katema from Red Arrows. He is the player we believe can add experience to our squad and is the plan by our coach George Lwandamina to build strong team for next season’s local and international competitions,”said Thabiti Zakaria, Azam’s head of Information.
On Monday Azam announced the signing of another Zambian striker Charles Zulu who previously featured for South African outfit Cape Town City and will be the third player from Zambia in Azam squad.
The first one is striker Obrey Chirwa. After signing attacking midfielder Charles Zulu from Zambia, Azam have maintained that they will continue to cement their squad to make it competitive next season.
The former Cape Town City player has since inked a two-year deal to feature for the Chamazi based giants who are looking sharp to play in international matches next season.
“We have signed him after reaching mutual agreement with his former club where he had a contract and this is just part of our strategy to boost the squad prior to next season.
“Like we did last season when we signed one of the best strikers in our league Prince Dube, we are still on the course to hire services of good players capable to give the team best results,” said the club’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Abdulkarim Amin ‘Popat’.
He added that the signings are being made according to demands of Head Coach George Lwandamina while insisting that they are now looking for a holding midfielder and another attacking midfielder.
“We still have a room for another striker but as you know, a lot of scrutiny needs to be made before signing new players since the talks usually take long time to complete,” he said.
About some players who will part ways with the club at the end of the season, Popat said they are just waiting to finish their two remaining matches before parading players who will be released after the campaign.
Azam continue to cling on the third place of the table with 64 points from 32 duels and their next league match will be against Simba at Azam Complex in the region.
When the two sides met in the first round at Benjamin Mkapa Stadium in Dar es Salaam, the outcome was 2-2 as such, people are eager to see the side which will break the barrier on the day.
