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Prince Dube

Ricky Zililo, Senior Sports Reporter
HIGHLANDERS’ preparations for tomorrow’s Premiership encounter against Bulawayo City have been dealt a body blow following the departure of chief striker Prince Dube for South African topflight side SuperSport United.

Dube left the country yesterday morning and was seen off at the Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo International Airport by Highlanders officials.

SuperSport moved quickly to officially request Bosso to release their 20-year-old prodigy, who won the Cosafa Castle Cup with the Warriors in South Africa recently.

Media reports linked Dube to other South African sides Ajax Cape Town, Mamelodi Sundowns and Baroka FC.

Ajax Cape Town were keen to secure the young striker as a replacement for forward Nathan Paulse, who retired at the end of the 2016/17 South African Premiership season.

It is highly unlikely that Dube will return from the trial stint at SuperSport.

“Dube has gone for trials till the end of the week. Hopefully he will undergo medicals at the club if they are happy with his performance,” Highlanders’ chief executive officer Nhlanhla Dube said.

The young striker was on target when Zimbabwe were knocked out of the Chan qualifiers by Namibia after a penalty shootout on Sunday.

Dube played his last game for Highlanders on June 18, scoring the last goal in the 3-0 win over Hwange.

He is presently the Castle Lager Premier Soccer League’s second leading scorer with six goals. He also had a week-long training attachment at South African champions Bidvest Wits in January alongside teammate, defender Peter Muduhwa, and the move to SuperSport could prove a breakthrough for the youngster.

One person who believes Dube is arguably the best emerging striker in Zimbabwe is Highlanders’ coach Erol Akbay.

The Dutchman, who arrived from his native Netherlands yesterday, said Dube’s imminent move away from Bosso did not surprise him.

“Highlanders are facing the same problem that we saw last season, losing key players during the mid-season break and I’m not surprised that Prince has left the club. His case has always been known because he is a real talent and it was just a matter of when he was going to leave. I think losing players to foreign teams shows that as Highlanders we are doing a good job in terms of developing talent,” said Akbay.

Last season, Bosso lost midfielder Bruce Kangwa to Tanzanian side Azam as well as striker Knox Mutizwa, who found a new home at Bidvest Wits in South Africa.

Last week, Highlanders lost Rodreck Mutuma, who partnered Dube upfront in most of their games, to Yadah Stars FC. Mutuma scored two goals for Highlanders in the first half of the season.

@ZililoR