BY HENRY MHARA
The Cameroonian was one of the outstanding players in the domestic league in the just-ended season, his 12 goals helping DeMbare to a second place finish in the Castle Lager Premier Soccer League.
His performance, in his debut season in the country, where he was also deservedly voted among the best 11 footballers of the season, has seen him attracting a lot of interest from clubs down south.
Dynamos chairman Keni Mubaiwa yesterday revealed that officials from Bidvest Wits and Polokwane City had been in the country in the past few days to negotiate for the striker.
Mubaiwa would not divulge which team made inroads in the negotiations, although a source claimed that the striker is heading for Bidvest.
“A number of clubs from South Africa have made contact for Christian. Some were here in the past few days for negotiations and others have been talking to us through the phone,” Mubaiwa said. “We have not agreed with anyone because of the price. We have put our value on the player, which the teams are saying they cannot meet. The good thing on our part is that we are not desperate to sell, so we will try to get the full value of what we think our player is worth,” Mubaiwa said.
A source said Bidvest are close to make a breakthrough and have invited the player to the club next week.
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“He is likely to leave next week for Bidvest. He is currently sorting his travelling documents and the chances of him joining the club are 90%. They have watched videos of him and were impressed. They have invited him for trials just as a formality, but the deal is as good as done unless another team comes with a really better offer,” the source said.
Epoupa joined Dynamos at the start of the season as part of coach Lloyd Mutasa’s rebuilding exercise.
After he made his debut in April, Epoupa lit up the league with a good run of scoring form which hauled DeMbare into contention and him into the limelight.
In July, Ajax Cape Town showed interest in the player, but the deal fell through after the South Africa club’s representatives attempted to arm-twist DeMbare to cancel his contract without any payment being made.
DeMbare were forced to build a team from scratch after a number of key players deserted the club.
With many predicting the Glamour Boys’ failure, the team went on to defy the odds, losing the title on the last day of the season to eventual champions FC Platinum by just two points.
“It was a huge achievement considering the quality of the players we had. Some of the players are still very young and were playing in the league for the first time, but they did very well and the whole team led by their coach Mutasa should be commended,” Mubaiwa said. Mutasa faced a lot of criticism at the start of the season as the new team struggled for rhythm, with a section of the supporters even calling for his head.
“Mutasa showed that he is a good coach and there is no doubt that we are keeping him. We are giving him a chance to try and do better next season. We hope things will be a lot organised this time around, and we are confident that he can win the league.”
Even though they were pipped to the title, Dynamos recorded the most wins and scored the highest number of goals compared to all the other teams in the league, including FC Platinum.
Besides Epoupa, the team also contributed skipper Ocean Mushure on the Soccer Stars of the Year calendar.
