Musona turned down chance to prove himself in England

By Robson Sharuko

Warriors’ talisman Knowledge Musona turned down a chance to prove himself at an English Premiership club, at a time he was struggling to make an impression in the German Bundesliga, but then accepted a loan move back to Super Diski for a second spell with Soweto giants Kaizer Chiefs.

The 26-year-old Zimbabwe international forward was offered a golden opportunity to break into the English Premiership by London club Queens Park Rangers in July 2013, at a time he was struggling to impress at German side TSG Hoffenheim, but turned it down saying he wasn’t the type to go for a 10-day assessment.

Instead, Musona traced his footsteps back into the South African Premiership by rejoining Kaizer Chiefs, on loan, before he was then sold to Belgian top-flight club KV Oostende.

Queens Park Rangers, who were then in the English Premiership and under the guidance of manager Harry Redknapp, wanted to assess Musona for 10 days before finally making a decision whether to sign him or not in July 2013.

Redknapp had broken the bank, at his old club Portsmouth, by taking a gamble on Benjani Mwaruwari, whom he signed for a club record 4,1 million after being advised by Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger to go for the Zimbabwean forward.

But, after Benjani initially struggled to get the goals that Portsmouth needed, despite being the record-signing for the club, Redknapp insisted he now wanted to first assess a player, before making a decision to sign him, and offered Musona a chance to end his German misery by coming to the English Premiership.

However, Musona turned down the invitation saying his pedigree meant he could not go on a 10-day trial period, insisting he could only go to England if the club wanted to sign him, even though he ended up being loaned back to Chiefs.

The deal had been facilitated by Zimbabwean agent Kenny Mapeza, who is now based in England and is close to a number of prominent football personalities in that country.

“On behalf of Queens Park Rangers Football Club, I kindly request the temporary release of Knowledge Musona to join us in a trial assessment at our club for a duration of 10 days,” Redknapp wrote in an official request to Hoffenheim on July 4, 2013.

“The player is expected to arrive in England at the possible earliest date. We thank you for your efforts.”

Mapeza, who was handling that deal, says Musona told him he wasn’t comfortable with an assessment.

“Knowledge is the one who said that he wouldn’t come to England for trials when he wasn’t getting game time in Germany, that’s around the time he was loaned back to Chiefs,” said Mapeza.

“It breaks my heart that Khama (Billiat) isn’t playing in Europe while week-in and week-out we watch average players playing in top leagues here.

“To break into Europe, you need to have an agent with the right contacts.

“Players back home don’t believe that we can help them with their careers, most of them are ill-advised. It’s heartbreaking. I have tried to help local lads and I will continue to do so.”

A few months after Musona turned down a chance to break into the English Premiership, Queens Park Rangers turned their attention on another Zimbabwean international, Ovidy Karuru, and invited him for an assessment.

He was then playing in France.

“On behalf of QPR I kindly request the temporary release of the above-named player (Karuru) to join us in a trial assessment at our club for a duration of five days,” Redknapp wrote to Karuru’s French team on January 21, 2014.

“The player is expected to arrive in England before the 31st of January 2014.”

But that deal never materialised and Karuru is now playing for a South African Division One side, Amazulu, whom he joined last month.

“As for Ovidy, his club started playing some games until the January transfer window was shut, but he wanted to come,” said Mapeza.

QPR were then an English Premiership side and Mapeza believes the club could have helped open doors for both Musona and Karuru had they taken their chance.

“It’s the same with Khama, he just needs the right guidance and contacts and things could happen for him,” said Mapeza. The Herald