South African Premier League club Bloemfontein Celtic has clarified that revitalised Flames midfielder Joseph ‘Shakira’ Kamwendo is not undergoing trials with them.
The club’s team manager and former Flames captain John Maduka said Kamwendo’s name was indeed thrown into fray for possible trials, hiwever, the club felt it would not be a wise move as they already have two other players in that position.
“There must have been a communication breakdown somewhere because the issue of Joseph [Kamwendo] was indeed discussed at some point. However, the technical panel felt he could not be considered as we already have two other players in his position.
“So, I can confirm that there were preliminary discussions. So, he could indeed be here in South Africa, but he is not here at Celtic,” said Maduka.
Kamwendo’s manager Charles Martin and Mighty Wanderers team manager McHodges Chunga told the local media that Kamwendo, who left the country on Saturday, would undergo trials at Phunya Sele Sele.
The player himself could not be reached for comment on Tuesday and the Nomads general secretary David Kanyenda was elusive when contacted on the issue.
“I can neither confirm nor deny [that Joseph is in South Africa]. What I know is that he has been given a week off and might be available for this weekend’s games,” said Kanyenda.
But Martin confirmed that his client was in South Africa and that he was still trying to work out something for him.
“There are developments that have just cropped up and I would advise you to wait,” said Martin.
Last week, another South African top-league side Mamelodi Sundowns said they had indefinitely shelved their plans to sign Kamwendo.
The club’s spokesperson Kabelo Mosito that they had put on hold plans to get Kamwendo on board due to what he described as technical reasons.
Instead, the Brazilians signed three other foreign-based players including latest Dutch arrival Alje Schut. The others are Ghanaians Emmanuel Baffor and Mumasi Abubakar.
Sundowns have since exhausted their foreign quota as they already have five other foreigners, namely, Elias Pelembe, Simba Sithole, Method Mwanjali, Solomon Okpako and Nyasha Mushekwi.
“Kamwendo is still in the picture, but he is not in the technical panel’s immediate plans,” said the Sundowns spokesperson.
