Twite and Bossou still in my plan, insists Lwandamina

Dar es Salaam. Young Africans head coach George Lwandamina has quashed reports that defenders Vincent Bossou and Mbuyu Twite will leave the club this month.

Bossou, who had a vacation in his home country of Togo, linked up with the squad yesterday and trained under the new coach while the Congolese back is still finalising talks over his contract extension.

Bossou was rumoured to be heading to Vietnam where he would have joined an undisclosed Premier League club while Twite was linked with a switch to Simba SC.

However, when speaking with The Citizen yesterday, the Zambian coach played down the rumours saying he was still assessing the duo, for they were still in his plan for the domestic league and African Champions League.

“I have read about those rumours, but what I know is that the duo are still Yanga players and since I only have a week with the team, I have to continue assessing everyone. In short, they are still in my plan,” said the coach, who replaced Dutchman Hans van der Pluijm last month.

He disclosed that the Togolese started training with the rest of the squad yesterday and was doing fairly well.

The Zambian, however, will miss the services of Bossou next month as the hard-working defender will be with the Togolese national team for the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon), which gets underway on January 14 and run through February 5.

According to Lwandamina, who resigned as the Zesco United coach, last month, it was too early to name the players who will be axed at Yanga.

“This is like applying the brakes quickly and deeply; the car must lose its direction, so I won’t rush into making changes. I have already seen a lot of talented players in training, but it will take time before making big decisions,” said Lwandamina.

“We have a short time before the league resumes, so it’s good to concentrate on football instead of introducing changes.”

The premiership resumes on December 17.