Yanga SC scouted Kaizer Chiefs, AS Vita stars during Simba SC's Caf Champions League clashes

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Timu ya Wananchi were hawk-eyed when Simba engaged their rivals in continental duties and pinpointed players who shone

Tanzania Mainland Premier League giants Yanga SC took advantage of Simba SC's Caf Champions League campaign, to identify potential transfer targets, it has been revealed.

Simba hosted Plateau United of Nigeria and Platinum FC of Zimbabwe in the preliminary round of the competition before entertaining Al Ahly of Egypt, Al Merrikh of Sudan, DR Congo's AS Vita and, South Africa's Kaizer Chiefs in the quater-finals. According to a Yanga official, those matches gave them a chance to scan for players they could sign.

So far, Timu ya Wananchi have engaged Congolese full-back Djuma Shabani - who impressed against Wekundu wa Msimbazi - and credible reports indicate the two parties have agreed on a two-year deal. Talks between the Jangwani giants and Kaizer Chiefs' Lazarous Kambole have, however, collapsed due to demands made by the Zambian star.

"We watched all the teams that came to Dar es Salaam and played Simba and our scouts were keen on which players impressed them. Our attention was drawn to players from AS Vita, Kaizer Chiefs, and Al-Merrikh, particularly because these are the players we would realistically approach and sign," the official told Goal.

"You must have heard that we have already held fruitful talks with AS Vita about [Djuma] Shabani, but whether he will join us eventually is a matter that we can wait for the club to make it official. We saw him play here in Tanzania and our scouts in Kinshasa watched him in the first-leg tie and we were impressed that he would come and give Shomari Kibwana stiff competition at full-back.

"We need players who will come and help us improve.

"We had identified two or three more players, but the other targets proved difficult to obtain because their coach openly stated they were central to his plans and thus could not be let go.

"People have focused on Kambole alone but we also saw a few other stars who actually played both games and could come and help push our domestic and continental ambitions. We took advantage of Simba games to see which players gave them problems and straight away such a player was noted as one of our primary targets.

"Simba are our rivals and we always meet a number of times in the local competitions and a player who impresses against them has the potential to give us an upper advantage and a competitive edge."

Yanga's Hersi Said, the competition commitee's vice-chairman who is tasked to conduct transfer business, is understood to be in South Africa where he had engaged Amakhosi over Kambole's transfer deal.

2021-06-17 23:00:09

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