Chiefs coach Zwane believes new striker Bimenyimana will ‘add value’
Image: Kaizer Chiefs FC
Kaizer Chiefs coach Arthur Zwane believes new Burundian striker Bonfils-Caleb Bimenyimana can add value to Amakhosi as they prepare to meet Cape Town City in their DStv Premiership matchup at Cape Town Stadium on Tuesday (7.30pm).
Zwane’s new-look Chiefs bounced back from a 4-0 defeat to Mamelodi Sundowns to beat promoted Richards Bay 1-0 at a packed Moses Mabhida Stadium on Saturday night.
With Amakhosi reduced to 10 men with the 31st-minute dismissal of Yusuf Maart, Dillon Solomons’s 62nd-minute strike inflicted the first top-flight defeat on the Natal Rich Boys.
Bimenyimana, signed last week after Chiefs dithered after a three-week trial with the club, was not in Amakhosi's match-day squad on Saturday. The striker might find a place for the game against City or when Amakhosi remain in the Cape to meet Stellenbosch FC in Sunday’s MTN8 quarterfinal at Danie Craven Stadium.
“We saw Caleb — we spent three weeks with him. But we didn’t want to rush into things because we were still looking,” Zwane said.
“We are avoiding the situation of this quick fix thing where we bring in a player because we are desperate. We are not desperate.
“You could even see [on Saturday] where even if we didn’t have a No.9, we looked like we could come up with something. And players must know they’re going to have to improvise sometimes because there are games where a No.9 gets a red card.
“Gone are those days of a No.9. When you have a front three any of them can play as a No.9. You can have a ‘false 9’ because that’s the way the game is going if you look at all the top teams.
“We believe Caleb is going to help us. He’s the type of striker that when you want him on top he does that, when you want him as a No.10 he has the quality to help us.
“We had to wait to be sure he was the right player for us. I believe he’s going to come in and add value.”
Former Rayon Sports striker Bimenyimana has mostly played in Eastern Europe for clubs including Rigas FS (Latvia), Atlantas (Lithuania), Pohronie (Slovakia) and Kaisar (Kazakhstan).