The Sunday News
Innocent Kurira
WITH the bulk of the squad that represented Zimbabwe in the last international window being foreign based players, there is a chance of more players in the diaspora making the senior national team squad for the impending World Cup Qualifiers.
One of those players is Shumaira Mheuka.
Born in the UK to Zimbabwean parents on 20 October, 2007, Mheuka has represented England at junior ranks but is still eligible to play for Zimbabwe.
Shim, as Shumaira Mheuka is known in the English football circles, is the son of former Mutare Boys’ High School attacking midfielder, Malcom Mheuka, who was part of the trailblazing squad that probably remains the only school team from Manicaland to lift the Copa CocaCola Cup.
Mheuka played for Circle United and Zimbabwe Saints.
Chelsea will pay a record fee for Shumaira Mheuka after a tribunal ruled that they must pay up to £4,25 million to Brighton and Hove for the Zimbabwean youngster.
Mheuka moved to Stamford Bridge in 2022 from Brighton when he was 14 years old.
According to the Football Insider website, the Professional Football Compensation Committee decided at a hearing recently that the Blues must pay a basic fee of £1 000 000 for Mheuka.
The sum could rise to £4,25 million if various clauses are fulfilled.
This will surpass the current British record fee for a player transferred at the age of 14.
Moreover, Brighton will have a sell-on clause, which is understood to be between 20 and 25 percent.
Mheuka could be considered for the Warriors’ next assignments as he is still eligible to represent the country of his parents’ birth.
The Warriors hosted Nigeria in their first home game in Rwanda last November, after Caf deemed all the local stadiums not fit to play host to international matches.
The Warriors will face Lesotho and South Africa in their next World Cup Qualifier amid indications that little progress has been made on renovating the available stadiums.
Rumours in the corridors suggest Zimbabwe are considering South Africa as their next home venue. — innocentskizoe
