Chiefs coach Zwane pins hopes on new striker Bimenyimana
The Amakhosi mentor believes Bimenyimana could be a big hit in his team.
Kaizer Chiefs sporting director Kaizer Motaung Junior welcoming new striker Bonfils-Caleb Bimenyimana (Photo: Kaizer Chiefs Media)
Bonfils-Caleb Bimenyimana may not have kicked a ball in an official game for his new team Kaizer Chiefs, but he is already talk-of-the-town.
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The Burundian striker was unveiled by Chiefs last week. Bimenyimana had previously been on trial with Amakhosi, where he impressed coach Arthur Zwane and his technical team.
When his signing was announced on Thursday, people scrambled all over the internet looking for anything they can find on Chiefs new man.
Bimenyimana will, after all, be carrying the hopes of millions of Amakhosi fans in terms of goal scoring this season, alongside Ashley Du Preez as the team’s only recognised natural strikers.
Among the things dug up on Bimenyimana was an old video of him in an altercation with a pitch invader while he was in Tanzania.
But what matters most is that Zwane believes Bimenyimana could be a big hit in his team.
“We spent three weeks with him and we were impressed, but we didn’t want to rush things because we were still looking,” said Zwane.
“We are avoiding a situation of a quick fix where we could be bringing in any player because maybe we are desperate. We are not desperate, you could even see against Richards Bay (ten-man Chiefs ground out a 1-0 win on Saturday), yes we didn’t have a number nine, but we looked like we could come up with something.”
Bimenyimana may make his long awaited first appearance for Amakhosi when they meet Cape Town City at Athlone Stadium in Cape Town on Tuesday evening.
With Du Preez unavailable due to injury, Zwane may be tempted to throw in Bimenyimana, should his work permit be concluded in time.
“Our players must know they are going to have to improvise because there will be games where you have a number nine, and he gets a red card… then what do you do?” added Zwane.
“Or if your number nine is not doing well on the day. Gone are those days of number nines. Once you have a front three, any of them should play as a number nine, or a false nine because that’s where the game is right now.
“We believe that Caleb is going to help us because he is the type of a striker when you want him on top, he does that. When we want him as a number 10, he still has those qualities to help us.
“That’s why we had to wait for the right moment and be sure whether he is the right player for us. I believe he is one of the good players, and he is going to come and add value.”
