Third tier English outfit Hull City Association Football Club has signed Malawian born Henri Kumwenda from Leeds United.
Kumwenda broke the news yesterday on his Twitter page, expressing his excitement after signing his first professional contract.
”Happy to sign my first professional contract with Hull City. Looking forward to this new chapter,” he twitted.
Born in Malawi, Kumwenda moved to United Kingdom as a child and has been with Leeds’ academy since the age of 11 where he made a name for himself.
Hull City are yet to announce Kumwenda’s signing though Hull City Daily Mail also reported the player’s signing.
“He’s expected to feature initially for City’s Under-23s side this season as he continues his progress through the ranks,” the newspapers reported on Monday.
Meanwhile, media reports in England indicate that some Leeds supporters are wondering why the club did not sign him on a long contract.
But others felt Leeds must have decided that Kumwenda might not get enough game time.
“It may just be that having got into the Premier League, Leeds decided that he was unlikely to get any game time in the first team and at 18, unlikely to get game time if put out on loan either.
“He will have cost them money to keep and would have more than likely spent his time sitting on a bench, which would have been unfair to him and unsettling. Better to go out to a lower division club with a proper contract and build his career where there is no pressure for him to be played, when he may not be ready week in week out,” read one of the comments on Hull City Daily Mail website www.hulldailymail.co.uk.
Earlier this year, Kumwenda told The Nation in an exclusive interview that he had not thought about playing for Malawi national team.
“I am not thinking about playing for the Malawi national team at the moment.
“I have a lot of work to do so that I grow in the game,” he said then.
Football Association of Malawi president Walter Nyamilandu then said they would try to convince the youngster to play for Malawi.
