The Sunday Mail
The self-styled Prince of local football is clubless as the 2018 Castle Lager Premier Soccer League season comes to life.
Nomadic striker Roderick “Prince” Mutuma says he will take a short break from the game and concentrate on his family after being snubbed by Caps United.
The 29-year-old former Golden Boot winner had set his sights on rejoining Makepekepe from Yadah FC but the move fell through after Lloyd Chitembwe opted for Denver Mukamba and Peter “Rio” Moyo.
Mutuma, who scored just three goals for Highlanders and Yadah FC last season, is kicking his heels at home, helping wife Paida raise their son Ricaldo.The once media friendly striker has withdrawn into a shell and says he will training alone until the July transfer window.
“I want to have a private life, please,” Mutuma told The Sunday Mail Sport last week. “You can write about others, leave me alone. I want my privacy,” added the former Dynamos striker who at his peak was regarded as one of the most deadly finishers in the local Premiership.
Mutuma’s goal return has taken a shocking dip since 2011 when he won the Castle Lager Premier Soccer League Golden Boot after scoring 14 goals for Dynamos. The marksman has failed to reach double digits in any of the four seasons he has played locally since his return from a short stint at Bloemfontein Celtic in South Africa’s ABSA Premiership in 2014. Upon his return to DeMbare from Celtic in mid-2014, Mutuma scored six goals and was the club’s joint top scorer with Washington Pakamisa – itself an indictment of the depths to which goal-scoring as sunk in the PSL.
He moved to Caps United at the beginning of 2015 before returning to DeMbare’s Glamour Boys in the second half of that season.
Mutuma scored four league goals in 2016 – two of them against a Mutare City side that was to be be relegated from the top flight.
His move to Highlanders at the beginning of 2017 did not bring back the glory days as he managed two goals in the six months he spent in Bulawayo.In July last year, Mutuma packed his bags and returned to Harare to join Yadah in a much publicized $4 000 move.
While earning a reported $1 000 per month the striker repaid Walter Magaya’s team with a priceless goal, scored on the last day of the season in a 2-1 victory against former side Bosso on November 19.
That winning goal ensured Yadah’s safety from the chop.At that start of this year, Mutuma went AWOL from Yadah as he sought to rejoin Makepekepe. He failed to make the grade and is now waiting for the July transfer window to find a new club.
