By GWEN CHIPASULA –
FORMER Chipolopolo coach Honour Janza has given striker Emmanuel Mayuka’s move to Egyptian side Zamalek a thumbs-up, saying the deal will help the player regain his momentum.
Janza also said Africa’s obsession with European leagues should end so that the value of other leagues could be rightly recognised.
Mayuka signed a three-year contract with Zamalek barely five months after the player joined French Ligue-Two side Metz.
Janza said Mayuka should not be criticised for his decision as he was trying to get back his old form.
He said Mayuka’s move would see him back to Europe and that Zamalek was not a bad move considering that Egypt was one of the great footballing nations.
“Football is about the heart. One needs to get motivated with what they are doing. He was obviously not happy with where he was, so let us not criticise him.
“He has a reason for his movement and looking at his current form, he needs to play more,” he said.
Janza said there was nothing like a bad move and that Mayuka was just making a move that would help his career.
“Even the time Stopilla Sunzu went to China, people criticised him, but he was just trying to get back his old form, and he did. So Mayuka’s move to Zamalek is obviously for a good reason. We, Africans are just obsessed with Europe, but at the end of the day, one needs to play in order to stay in form,” he said.
Meanwhile, Nkana have confirmed the capture of  Power Dynamos and Zambia defender Christopher Munthali.
Nkana treasurer Evarsito Kabila said in an interview that the club was delighted to have brought back Munthali to the team where he made his breakthrough to the national team.
“His contract with Power has run out and he is a free agent. So we signed him on a three-year deal.
“We agreed on terms before he left for the national team,” he said.
Munthali returns to Nkana a season after his two-year loan spell from Power expired in December 2014.
The defender earlier joined Nkana in 2013 after failing to hold down a first team position at Power, but later made an impact on loan, winning the MTN/FAZ Super League title that season and earning his debut Chipolopolo call-up under ex-Zambia coach Herve Renard.
Munthali is currently away on Chipolopolo duty at the 2016 CAF African Nations Championship in Rwanda.