Songani back from Sudan

By Mehluli Sibanda

Striker Silas Songani is back at FC Platinum after his move to Al Hilal failed to materialise.

The forward spent some time being assessed by Al Hilal but could not complete a move to the North African country since no agreement could be reached between the Sudanese giants and the three times in a row Zimbabwean champions.

Songani trained with his FC Platinum team on Friday and yesterday as they continue to prepare for the start of the 2020/21 Caf Champions League next month. Pieter de Jongh, the FC Platinum coach, is happy to have Songani back.

The Dutchman’s main concern is the level of fitness of his players as out of the 28 that are training, he has singled out seven as not being fit.

“We are now in the second week of training, the mood is good, seven players are not in good shape, other players are in good shape,’’ De Jongh said.

FC Platinum last Saturday announced the signing of former Highlanders midfielder Brian Banda, described by the Dutchman as a replacement for Last Jesi who moved to Al Hilal.

De Jongh indicated that they should be announcing another new player soon. Bosso fans will be at ease for now as sources have said Pure Platinum Play are not conducting any raids on Amahlolanyama this time around.

“Selection is ready. We did sign Banda as a replacement for Jessi. Banda is a box to box player and there is one other player coming. The club will make an announcement at the right time,’’ said De Jongh.

FC Platinum players started training as a group on 12 October after being cleared to start fine tuning as a group. The Zimbabwean champions have been conducting sessions daily. On some of the days they have a gym session in the morning then take to the field in the afternoon.

Yesterday, they had a morning training session at Mandava Stadium. The Sunday News