Asante Kotoko dealt blow in run for DR Congo forward Fiston Mayele after Young Africans unwilling to sell attacker
Asante Kotoko has been dealt a major blow in their pursuit of Young Africans forward Fiston Mayele ahead of next season after the Tanzanian side declaring the attacker’s unavailability for sale.
The Ghanaian side enter into Africa next season after winning the Ghana Premier League. The Reds are in the process of strengthening their current squad for the competition and they are close to capturing some of their targets.
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A deal for former Black Star midfielder Emmanuel Agyemang Badu is almost done while Cameroonian nationals (a defender and attacker, separate from Mbella’s replacement) could soon agree terms with the Ghanaian champions, according to reports.
Despite these positive comings, it now remain clear that the Porcupine Warriors has been handed negative news in pursuit of Mayele who has been linked with Kotoko for weeks now. Yanga has issued a statement to confirm their stance that they are not ready to do business for the Congolese.
The 27-year old has been sensational at Young Africans and Kotoko have gathered scouting reports on the DR Congo International.
Mayele’s pursuit comes into the party with a lot of attackers have been linked with Asante Kotoko in two different specifications where a segregation considered direct replacement for likely-to-depart Franck Thierry Mbella Etouga while the other crop linked have nothing to do with Mbella’s future.
The search for Mbella’s replacement has been a key priority with only few players understood to be the perfect ideal. Even Ghana Premier League top scorer Yaw Annor who has been on Kotoko’s summer wishlist will pair Mbella up front if the the Porcupine Warriors were to have a breakthrough on Annor, the Reds have said.
Petro Luanda forward Tiago Azulao, FC Nouadhibou attacker Hemeya Tanjy and Fiston Mayele have been tipped by Kotoko to replace Mbella but the Ghanaian side will be forced to look else where after all deals unlikely this summer.
Azulao’s age, 34, appears an obstacle for a deal with Kotoko looking for young project, Tanji is said to have his eye set on a move to the the Arab world while Mayele’s club Young Africans have issued a statement of unavailability for sale of the DR Congo International.
Asante Kotoko is not the only club dealt huge blow in Mayele’s transfer as South African Premier Soccer League outfits Orlando Pirates and Kaizer Chiefs are also interest in the 27-year old Yanga star.
“For sure, there have been phone calls – you know, I’ve got colleagues all over Africa. I’ve received three phone calls from South Africa, big clubs showing some interest,” Yanga Sporting Club Chief Executive Officer Senzo Mazingiza told SABC Sport.
“Though the interest has not been expressed in writing or anything like that, the inquiries have been there and I’ve been quite frank to say that he’s not available, he has a contract with us and we want to do well in the interclub competition [Caf Champions League].
“One thing you cannot run away from when you have one or two, or three, of your players doing well, you’ll have people showing interest because they think that maybe they have much better spending power than you, so they can convince you otherwise.”
Mayele was a key goal-scoring machine for Yanga this season as he scored 16 goals as ‘Timu Ya Wananchi’ emerged as Premier League champions with three games remaining. Across all competitions, he has found the back of the net 19 times and provided four assists in 32 games.
As Mazingiza stressed the star will not be released, Yanga’s head coach, Nasreddine Nabi, is keen on bringing on board Taifa Stars forward Simon Msuva in order to partner him with Mayele next season.
“I need a striker who is fast and can score,” Nabi said in regard to Msuva, as he was quoted by Mwanaspoti. “I like his pace and hard work, but what is more important is his ability to play in different positions.”
Fiston joined Yanga from AS Vita Club last season, firing his Tanzanian side to league champions- an achievement that breaks the dominance rivals Simba Sporting Club.
Asante Kotoko can now learn their fate on Mayele and look for alternatives. Latest reports on Friday 24th June suggest Mbella’s agent has relieved Kotoko off the challenge in finding Mbella’s replacement, taking upon himself the responsibility to bring the perfect Mbella successor at Kotoko.
It’s understood that the agent has linked Asante Kotoko and AS Fortuna leading man Adolf Ekembe who has struck 16 times this season in Cameroonian Elite One league.
Talks are said to be in progress with a completion of a deal likely.
