Benni McCarthy – the head coach of AmaZulu FC – has provided an update on Justin Shonga who has been training with the team.
Benni McCarthy – the head coach of AmaZulu FC – has provided an update on Justin Shonga who has been training with the team.
Having announced the signing of former Kaizer Chiefs defender Kgotso Moleko and Hendrick Ekstein, who has returned from Azerbaijan, McCarthy has confirmed that Shonga will not be signed by the Durban-based club.
The Zambian striker was hoping to get a chance to revive his career at Usuthu, following his disappointing spell with Cape Town City, where he failed to score a goal in 13 appearances during his six-month stint.
Speaking to the media this week, McCarthy explained why he decided not to sign the former Orlando Pirates player.
“I was asked about Justin Shonga and he was a player that wanted to come and train. He wanted to come, and we wanted to see maybe if he can add something different to the squad and I allowed him. I like the boy; I like the player and I said if he comes, he will just have to show me what he’s got. So, he was training with us with a view that we might sign him,” he said.
“He’s been really good, and he’s worked exceptionally hard. The fact that he hasn’t played as much in the last two seasons just put him on the back foot a little bit and unfortunately, we need a player to come in and just be able to click like that with the team and give us the goals and give us what we need."
"Unfortunately for him, the position we were looking for was for somebody to come in and be better than the strikers that we have or give us something different to the strikers that we have."
"With Justin, we needed time to get him to that level, but time is not on our side, we’ve got so many competitions, the MTN8 is upon us, the CAF Champions League is coming, and the league is starting. So, how much time we might need to get him there, as maybe by then your rivals have put daylight between you and them. So, unfortunately, it was maybe not to be. Wrong timing maybe, so, yeah, we won’t be signing Justin,” the coach added.
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