AFTER a stunning performance for the Warriors in their Group B match in the African Nations Championships (Chan) finals against Burkina Faso which they won 1-0, midfielder Peter “Rio” Moyo is now a “wanted” man in South Africa.
Moyo was named the man-of-the-match for the game and it was his first start for the Warriors in the finals after being overlooked in the opening two matches against Morocco and Uganda. Both matches ended goalless.
Now, the out-of-contract Highlanders midfielder could be lost to South African National First Division side Chippa United or Milano United.
Moyo’s contract with Bosso expired on December 31. However, Bosso is reported to be eager to retain the midfielder on his return from South Africa and hoping to also keep Milton Ncube who is also in South Africa. Bosso are hoping to sign Charles Sibanda who is part of the Warriors squad.
Moyo’s manager George Deda could neither deny nor confirm if the two clubs were chasing after Rio.
“For now I cannot say which clubs are after Rio. But it will not be a surprise to me because of Rio’s performance.
“He played well and could attract more suitors in the Chan quarter-finals.
“If he gets the chance it can be a big breakthrough for him. There are 16 teams playing in Chan so there is a lot of competition as many players will want to sign for South African clubs because of rich pickings (in the Absa Premier Soccer League).
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“It will be a good platform for him because if you look at players like Edward Sadomba and Onismor Bhasera, they started playing in the National First Division, but they later moved to big clubs. He has a chance of being noticed by South African big clubs if he plays there,” he said.
However, it emerged that Rio reportedly has a running contract with Luveve Big Eleven owned by former Highlanders manager Amin Soma Phiri. The contract expires on March 31 and any club interested in his services will have Soma Phiri to deal with.
Rio also played for Quelaton before his big move to Highlanders.
“When I spoke to Rio he said his contract with Big Eleven expires on March 31, but we understand they have not been playing in the lower divisions.
“We will hear from Zifa what we should do if the player signs for any of these clubs,” said Deda.
Moyo attended trials with Absa Premier Bidvest in December and was reported to have attracted an unnamed German club last year.
Chippa United, which once had former Warriors skipper Benjani Mwaruwari on their books, are top of the log table, while Milano are third.
Milano are based in Cape Town and yesterday announced the signing of Welcome Qalanto from Chippa United, Bloemfontein Celtic striker Augustin Leonard and Broderick Burds from Jomo Cosmos.
Milano is owned by Nasief Brenner who bought the Lentegeur Vodacom Second Division franchise formerly owned by ex-Bafana Bafana players Nasief Morris and Moeneeb Josephs.
Chippa was formed in 2010 when Siviwe (Chippa) Mpengesi acquired the franchise of Mbekweni Cosmos FC who were participating in the Safa Second Division league.
