DYNAMOS have moved to tie down some of their key players whose contracts are running out at the end of the year in a bid to avoid losing out to other Castle Lager Premier Soccer League suitors.
BY TAWANDA TAFIRENYIKA
While talks have been opened with several players, lack of funds is hindering the completion of the process and the Harare giants run the risk of losing out to teams that have bigger financial muscle.
Several senior players — among them goalkeeper Tatenda Mukuruva, skipper Stephen Alimenda, his vice Ocean Mushure and Godknows Murwira — will see their current deals expire on December 31.
In a desperate bid to avoid a repeat of last term when they ended up losing some of their stars after failing to renew their contracts early enough, the club hierarchy has moved swiftly to bring the players to the negotiating table.
However, with their marriage with BancABC — the club’s principal sponsors — also coming to an end in December, DeMbare are struggling to raise funds for signing-on fees in order to renew the contracts of the players.
BancABC used to avail $80 000 to the Harare giants for signing-on fees, but they stopped, limiting themselves to payment of salaries only this season.
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The development saw Dynamos fail to compete on the transfer market where they lost Ronald Chitiyo and Blessing Moyo to Harare City while other potential signings moved elsewhere, as the club dithered on monetary issues.
Archford Gutu had angled on joining Dynamos as had Liberty Chakoroma, who later signed for Ngezi Platinum Stars.
Former ZPC Kariba forward Raphael Manuvire was set to sign for Dynamos until Harare City arrived with a firm and better offer.
The trend could continue in the off-season break with better-financed clubs already sniffing around some of Dynamos’ best players.
Club treasurer Webster Marechera said yesterday they were in negotiations with the players for possible renewal of their contracts.
Although he expressed confidence they would succeed in keeping the players they want, he acknowledged they were facing challenges in raising signing-on fees.
“We are in negotiations with the players to try and renew their contracts. We are confident of extending their contracts because the players want to stay,” he said. “But our biggest problem is funding. We are struggling to raise the signing-on fees. We are different from mining teams like FC Platinum and Ngezi. The truth is we don’t have the money. Our sponsors BancABC used to give us money for signing-on fees, but not anymore. We even struggle to pay winning bonuses for players. But most of our players’ contracts will expire next year.”
The Harare giants also lost their captain Augustine Mbara to South African club Highlands Park.
Dynamos have in the past been blamed for failure to retain their key players with critics pointing out that they wait until the expiry of the contracts to start negotiations.
This has often resulted in some players leaving as free agents with the club not benefiting anything from it.
Dynamos have had a difficult season following their decision to hire Portuguese coach Paulo Jorge Silva, whom they later fired following a string of poor results before elevating Lloyd Mutasa.
While Mutasa has done well since taking over, Dynamos — in fourth place with only two matches left in the campaign — no longer have interest in the championship with a top-four finish now a realistic target.
