By FELIX MALUNGA –

CHIPOLOPOLO striker Emmanuel Mayuka is set to join Russian club, Spartak Moscow after being stripped of his number at English Premiership side, Southampton.
British newspaper, Mirror, reported that Mayuka will be joining Spartak but details of his contract are not yet clear.
Mayuka is leaving Saint Mary’s after just featuring in 16 Premier League matches without scoring a single goal since trekking to England in 2012.
He, however, scored a goal in Southampton’s 5-1 win over Barnsley in the Capital One Cup before spending the 2013/14 campaign on loan at Sochaux in France.
As Mayuka joins Spartak, the Saints, who gave the Zambian’s jersey 24 to Jack Stephens, are reportedly eyeing Queens Park Rangers striker, Charlie Austin to bolster their forward options.
The 24-year-old moved to Southampton on a five-year deal worth £3 million from Swiss club, BSC Young Boys after starring for the Chipolopolo at the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON).
His romance with the Saints appeared to be coming to an end after coach Ronald Koeman left Mayuka at home for pre-season tours of Austria and the Netherlands this month.
Koeman welcomed back international players who included Kenyan Victor Wanyama and Sadio Mane of Senegal for the 2015/16 pre-season training but ignored the Zambian forward in his squad.
The 2012 AFCON golden boot winner was told that he was not in Koeman’s plans for the forthcoming English Premier League season.
Mayuka, who made his debut against Manchester United on September 2, 2012, missed action for Southampton with a groin injury in the last five months of the 2014/15 English Premier League season.
He sustained the injury at the 2015 AFCON in Equatorial Guinea in January and has since struggled to win first team place for the Chipolopolo, with the latest being the 2017 qualifier against Guinea-Bissau which he watched from the bench.