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Muskwe edges close to break into Leicester team

Sport
WARRIORS striker Admiral Muskwe could be realising his dream of playing in the English Premiership league after he was included in Leicester City’s pre-season squad, where he has been given a chance to impress boss Brendan Rogers, ahead of the new season which starts next month.

WARRIORS striker Admiral Muskwe could be realising his dream of playing in the English Premiership league after he was included in Leicester City’s pre-season squad, where he has been given a chance to impress boss Brendan Rogers, ahead of the new season which starts next month.

BY HENRY MHARA

Muskwe, 19, who played for Zimbabwe at the Cosafa tournament in June, but failed to make the grade in the final squad that travelled to the Africa Cup of Nations, was part of the Leicester senior team that began their pre-season games with a 1-0 win over lower league side Scunthorpe United on Tuesday night.

The Premiership side fielded their strongest squad for the match including captain Wes Morgan Jamie Vardy, and Harry Maguire who has been linked with a move to Manchester United. New arrivals Youri Tielemans and Ayoze Perez also played in the match, with the latter scoring the only goal of the match.

Muskwe was one of the two players from the club’s developmental side, together with South African Khanya Leshabela, who played in the match.

The two got rave views from a Leicester City newspaper Leicester Mercury, who rated Muskwe’s performance 6/10 while Leshabela got 7/10.

“Muskwe, usually a striker, was shunted out to the left flank and performed well, exchanging nice passes with Callum Elder and making himself busy,” wrote the Leicester Mercury.

“The highest compliment that can be paid to the young South African (Leshabela) is that he did not look out of place surrounded by more senior pros. He showed good ball control, played sharp passes and found space for a few pops at goal.”

The two youngsters will be hoping to continue with their impressive form and try to convince the former Liverpool manager Rodgers to consider them for the senior squad in the next campaign.

They are likely to be given more time to make a claim for themselves in the senior squad when the Foxes squad tackle another lower division side Cheltenham Town in their second pre-season fixture of the summer at the weekend. Muskwe featured for Leicester’s development team last season, and his experience playing with the senior squad will be a welcome development for the Warrior who want all its squad members to play at highest level in world football. At the moment, Munetsi is the only Warriors player who is in a major European league, with Stade de Reims in the French Ligue 1, a side which he joined last month.

The bulk of the squad plays in the South African league, including the team’s poster boy Khama Billiat, while captain Knowledge Musona in with Anderlecht in Belgium where his future is uncertain.

Marvelous Nakamba is angling a move to Aston Villa in the English Premier League, and reports suggest that the midfielder who is in the books of Belgian side Club Brugge is currently in England, and is close to join the Birmingham based side.