Signing Ranga Chivaviro over Fiston Mayele is increasingly looking likely for Kaizer Chiefs as they look to bolster their squad.
Kaizer Chiefs are out searching for a striker, with efforts to offload Caleb Bimenyimana ongoing. The Burundian signed a two-year deal with an option but has fallen out of favour with Coach Arthur Zwane.
Should the club be able to move the 25-year-old, they need to find a forward player before the start of the season.
The two leading candidates to strengthen their attack are Young Africans marksman Mayele and Chivaviro of Marumo Gallants.
Over the last week, the Naturena-based giants would have weighed their options. Here’s why Chivaviro would make sense to Chiefs over the talented Congolese marksman.
RISK IS HIGHER WITH MAYELE
It is clear to Chiefs that bringing Mayele to Naturena would cost them a fortune. The 28-year-old has a year left on his contract with a release clause of about R10 million. In Dar es Salaam, the mercurial forward’s net salary is in the region of R250 000.
His salary demands would be no less than R450 000 per month, at least according to those close to him.
With interest from North Africa and the Middle East, he would be almost certain his demands are reasonable.
But that could be steep for Chiefs when you consider that they would have to pay a signing-on fee on top of that.
This is for a player who will be new to the DStv Premiership. History has proven that excelling in another league is no guarantee that you’ll do well in the PSL.
Bimenyimana and Congolese forward Christian Saile are fresh examples of how much it takes for a foreign player to settle at Naturena.
SALARY DEMANDS: CHIVAVIRO OVER MAYELE
Coming from Venda Football Academy and joining Marumo Gallants, Chivaviro wouldn’t have been on a high salary. It’s undoubtedly a package Chiefs can improve without any qualms.
In essence, the South Africa-born forward’s salary demands would significantly be less than Mayele’s.
Again, the advantage is that the Marumo man is familiar with the domestic league and will not necessarily need time to adjust to the league.
Of course, Kaizer Chiefs is a different beast, as Coach Arthur would put it. But having some PSL experience under his boots [not belt] makes it easier.
CHIVAVIRO COMES FOR FREE
With Marumo relegated, there is a sense that the club will lose many of its players. Chivaviro is certainly one of them. He signed a one-year deal at the start of the season. The one-year option was never exercised, which allows him to join any club on a free transfer.
Even if Marumo wanted to keep him, going down to the Motsepe Foundation Championship, they would battle to keep up with his demands.
Going to the second tier obviously alters the monthly grant they receive from the PSL. Negotiating a new package would be as insurmountable as convincing a topflight player to go to the unfashionable second tier.
Sello has seemingly resigned himself to losing a lot of his players. Therefore, Chiefs would have an easy one on convincing the talented forward to join them.
YANGA FOCUSED ON CAF FINAL
With the league in South Africa over, Chiefs are busy getting their ducks in order. The other team pursuing Chivaviro seriously – Young Africans – is still active on the continent.
They lost 2-1 at home in the CAF Confederation Cup final against USM Alger. The Jangwani giants travel to Algeria for the return leg set for Sunday with one thing in mind – to overturn the narrow deficit.
At the end of the season – mid-June – they will start looking at improving their squad. However, Chivaviro will not be waiting for mid-June, with Chiefs closing in on him.
Chivaviro has scored 17 goals in the just-ended season in all competitions. Mayele has scored 33 goals this season and could still add to his tally. He is yet to play the CAF Confederation Cup final reverse fixture against USM Alger on Saturday. They lost 2-1 in the first leg played in Dar es Salaam last weekend. Yanga, crowned champions recently, are still to play two league games and the Azam Cup final.
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