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Grace Chingoma, Harare Bureau

WARRIORS’ coach, Sunday Chidzambwa, has left the door wide open for England-based striker Macauley Bonne to play at the 2019 Afcon finals in Egypt.

The gaffer said he will consider the player once he secures a valid passport.

Bonne was overlooked in the 34-member squad since his passport application had not been completed by the time the squad was announced.

However, the Leyton Orient striker revealed later in day that he had completed the necessary documentation required to help him get a Zimbabwean passport.

“A player like Bonne, when he has a valid passport, he is worth carrying to the Afcon finals,’’ said Chidzambwa. 

“He scores goals. 

“If he secures a passport, we will consider him. We have named 34 players which we are going to trim to 23 players. 

“But, if Bonne sorts out his documents, we will have him in the team.’’

Bonne has had a fruitful campaign with his team with more than 20 goals in back-to-back seasons which eventually saw the side gain promotion to EFL League Two. 

The ex-Colchester United forward scored 23 times in the National League this season which beat his divisional tally of 22 last season.

Bonne, dubbed by the English media as the next Jamie Vardy, has declared his availability to represent the Warriors following high-level talks between the Team Zimbabwe-UK and the Zimbabwe Embassy in the UK.

Team Zimbabwe-UK chief executive, Marshal Gore, is confident Bonne will eventually play for the Warriors.

“I may need to refer to Zifa to comment on that because they are the ones handling the issue now,’’ said Gore. 

“We facilitated the stuff from the UK and Zifa are taking care of everything on this side. 

“Obviously, there have been a lot of speculation here. But what I can safely say is that the process, on the other side, has been very smooth. 

“I have spoken with Macauley and he knows he needs to have his passport in place to be able to play so he is fully aware of that.’’