Yanga SC president Hersi Ally Said has provided an update on the highly sought-after striker Clement Mzize, who is currently attracting interest from an overseas club willing to pay up to R21 million.
Mzize, who was also targeted by Kaizer Chiefs last season, is in fine form at the ongoing CHAN tournament, having scored three goals and helping the co-hosts advance to the quarterfinals.
The 21-year-old has been in remarkable form, continuing his impressive performance from last season, during which he netted 14 goals in the Tanzania Premier League. Additionally, he scored four goals in five appearances in the CAF Champions League.
The unnamed Saudi team, Qatar’s Al Sad, Zamalek and Al Masry of Egypt and Tunisian giants Esperance are among clubs chasing the Taifa Stars striker’s signature.
WHAT IS YANGA’S STANCE ON CLEMENT MZIZE
“Clement is still with the national team at CHAN,” Hersi told FARPost. “We will review the procedures and the requirements from the market and our side as well when he comes back from the international duty.
“He still has a few more years with us. We believe he’s the right player to stay with the club. But there’s also a lot of interest in him going abroad. We’ll consider keeping him at the club, but also assess whether there’s a need to let him go. We will make the right decision.”
Meanwhile, the reigning Tanzanian giants have made significant moves in the transfer market. They’ve signed Moussa Balla Conte from CS Sfaxien, Mohammed Husein from their rivals Simba SC, Ivorian forward Celestin Ecua, Lassine Kouma from Mali’s Stade Malien, Andy Boyeli from Sekhukhune United, and Mohammed Doumbia.
“We’ve done several signings, but most of them also covered what we were missing from last season. We’ve done very well over the past four years. We need to revamp our team. We need to freshen up our team.
“And most of that is to let some of the players that we think we need better or younger players than them. So, this season we’ve signed several players, but we’ve replaced very experienced players who have finished their contract with younger players.
“Most of them have contributed highly to our team. So, the signings were made to replace most of the players who were finishing their contracts, but also to bring in players with the qualities we are missing. So, it’s a blend of two.”
Romain Folz, former Mamelodi Sundowns, will be in charge of the team as head coach.