Bonfils-Caleb Bimenyimana - Rayon SportsRayon Sports media

Kaizer Chiefs to seal Bimenyimana transfer after U-turn on Burundi striker - reports

Burundi striker Bonfils-Caleb Bimenyimana is reportedly headed back to South Africa to seal a move to PSL side Kaizer Chiefs following trials with the Soweto giants.

Bimenyimana spent three weeks on trial with Chiefs before returning back home but according to the SABC, he is now on his way back after the club decided to sign him.

The decision on Bimenyimana is in contrast with sentiments made by Chiefs coach Arthur Zwane last week, when he said the player did not possess what the club was looking for.

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“Not what we’re looking for,” said Zwane when asked about the striker.

Chiefs released four strikers at the end of last season with Leonardo Castro, Samir Nurkovic, Lazalous Kambole and Bernard Parker the ones let go, but have struggled to find the right replacements.

“To be quite honest, we’ve been looking, searching, hunting. It’s difficult to get one – reason being, whenever you get one then he’s not [available] on the market, he’s not for sale and they [clubs] make your life difficult,” Zwane said last week.

“Those that are available, I don’t think they can come and add value. Yes, we are avoiding a situation where now we’ll do a quick-fix like we used to do in the past, and it did not pay off at the end of the day and the team suffered for a very long time.

“So, right now we’re trying to build an identity and way of play so that each and everyone knows his role and responsibilities on and off the field, and that already will make our life easy to identify players that can come in and add value with different and rare qualities.”

Zwane has been looking for a physical and aggressive striker who is good at holding the ball and after failing to land one with those attributes, he seems to have changed his mind on Bimenyimana.

Former TS Galaxy striker Wayde Lakay and ex-AS Far hitman Darren Smith are the other forwards who had trials at Chiefs but did not impress the technical bench.

Amakhosi have made seven signings ahead of the 2022-23 campaign but only Ashley du Preez can play at the front end of the pitch although he does not possess the physical attributes Zwane is looking for.

Chiefs lost 1-0 in their opening PSL game to Royal AM last Saturday before beating Maritzburg United 3-0 on Tuesday and have a daunting task against champions Mamelodi Sundowns on Saturday.

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