By Robson Sharuko
CAPS United look set to make the first big move of the off-season by luring Zimbabwe international striker Darryl Nyandoro from his Congolese adventure, but the deal could be scuttled by the boardroom politics that has cast a spell on the Green Machine.
The 23-year-old lanky forward, who has one cap for the Warriors and a host of caps for the Young Warriors, has decided to call time on his spell at TP Mazembe that never exploded into the success story that many had anticipated.
Yesterday, Nyandoro’s representatives met CAPS United officials in Harare and agreed terms for a two-year deal that would make the Zimbabwe international forward one of the best-paid players in the domestic Premiership.
SuperSport United, who lead the race for the South African Premiership title, are also interested in Nyandoro’s signature while reports also indicate that he is on the radar of both FC Platinum and domestic champions Dynamos.
But the delicate process of tying the loose ends of the deal, for Nyandoro to put pen to paper and officially become a CAPS United player ahead of the chasing pack of vultures desperate for his signature, could be paralysed by the boardroom tension at the Green Machine.
CAPS United are still struggling to bring stability to a boardroom rocked last month by club vice-president Farai Jere’s sudden resignation.
Although high-level negotiations, guided by legal experts, have been going on in the background to try and bring Jere and his principal partner, Twine Phiri, back onto the same ship, a deal is yet to be struck.
Jere’s 25 percent shareholding stake in CAPS United had turned into a sticking point with the Harare businessman demanding a bigger stake consistent with the financial investment he has been making in the running of the club.
While a draft agreement has been structured for the two principals, which will give either party half of the controlling stake in the club, it remains unsigned.
When Jere quit last month, he proposed to offload his 25 percent stake in the club, at a price consistent with the Zimbabwe dollar value he injected to get that stake in the first place, which was tagged on the cost of a house in Harare’s Borrowdale area. Such a stake, in today’s terms, would be worth between US$350 000 and US$500 000.
Alternatively, Jere also offered that his 25 percent shareholding in the club remains active for a period of, at least, two years, while CAPS United’s new directors will use the same time to service the debt that has accumulated from funds he poured into the team, for operational purposes, in the past five years.
That figure, as of November 15 this year, amounted to US$721 085. This amount is divorced from the probable value of Jere’s 25 percent shareholding stake in the club.
In 2005, Jere was CAPS United’s team manager and that was the year his direct investment into the operations of a Green Machine team that successfully defended their Premiership crown, under Charles Mhlauri, was converted into the shareholding that gave him a 25 percent stake in the team.
As of January 1 this year, official financial records at the club show that Jere had injected US$419 780 into the operational costs of the Green Machine, which included transfer fees for players, salaries for players and coaching staff, rentals for players and technical staff and direct expenses related to the team’s training and Match Day costs.
A further US$18 350 was poured by Jere into the CAPS United coffers, just for the club’s operational costs January this year, which catered for salaries, rentals and transport allowances for the players, salaries for the technical team, transport costs and contract fees for Stephen Matsangaise, Nyasha Mukumbi and Simba Sithole.
Therefore, by January 31 this year, Jere’s injection into the operational costs of the club had risen to US$438 130.
With US$20 000 being paid in February to Monomotapa towards the transfer fees of Charles Chiutsa, and further amounts paid for the services of Evans Gwekwerere, Marvel Smaneka, David Sengu, Arnold Chivheya and Pride Tafirenyika, coupled with the usual costs of salaries, rentals and transport, the monthly injection rocketed to US$44 370.
That took the entire value of the financial injection to US$482 500 and, with a further US$27 400 being spent on the club in March, the bill short past the half-a-million dollar mark as it settled at US$509 900.
The transfer fees paid to Gunners for Tapiwa Mangezi and David Rediyoni in April, winning bonuses for the games against Zimbabwe Saints, Shooting Stars and Shabanie, contract fees paid to Edmore Sibanda, Joel Luphahla and Luckmore Simango and the salary bill, meant that US$34 500 was injected by Jere into the operational costs of the team that month alone.
It brought his investment bill, in terms of the club’s operational costs, to US$544 400.
There were further injections of US$22 920 (May); US$17 450 (June); US$19 630 (July); US$36 910 (August); US$27 070 (September); US$16 505 (October) and US$36 200, up to the 15th of last month, to bring the value of his investment into the club’s operational costs, as of November 15, 2011, to US$721 085.
There has been further funding, since November 15 this year, when the talks to mend the cracks that developed in the CAPS United boardroom commenced, leading Jere to secure vehicles for Tafirenyika and Rediyon as part of the deal to keep them at the club next season.
Those costs are yet to be reflected in the operational accounts of the club. The Green Machine fans are desperate for a successful season next year after bearing the brunt of the mocking and abuse that has come from DeMbare fans toasting their league and cup double success story.
Makepekepe badly need a battery of new playing personnel, to add bite and stability to a team that finished the season strongly, and Nyandoro will represent a very good capture should the deal sail through.
Nyandoro has endured a largely frustrating two-year stay at Mazembe where he struggled to hold a regular starting place despite being rated as the best of the Zimbabwean troops that joined the Congolese side.
While Chris Semakweri remains in Lubumbashi, Mthulisi Maphosa and Daniel Zokoto have returned to the domestic Premiership and Nyandoro appears to have set his eyes on a homecoming show.
Just five years ago, Nyandoro was regarded as the hottest teenager in Zimbabwean football, after a starring role for the Young Warriors in a Cosafa Youth Championships, caught the eye.
Now, he wants to revive a career that has stalled since his DRC move. The forward is set to become one of the highest paid players in the domestic Premiership should he complete his two-year deal to join the Green Machine. Nyandoro is being represented by his agent, Edzai Kasinauyo, of Tamba Sport International.
