Yanga SC reveal jersey number for new signing Razak

Yanga SC have handed new signing Fiston Abdoul Razak jersey number seven ahead of the Mainland Premier League return.

The former Sofapaka striker arrived at the Jangwani giants on January 15 but he had to wait until Friday when he landed in Dar es Salaam to put pen to paper on a short-term deal of six months.

Razak, who has started training with the rest of the squad ahead of league resumption on February 13, has now been handed the jersey which was used by Mapinduzi Balama, who is currently recovering from an operation to repair his leg.

“[Razak] has been handed jersey number seven now that Mapinduzi [Balama] is still out nursing an injury,” Yanga coach Cedric Kaze said as quoted by Sokalabongo.

Balama is still not stable after the surgery in South Africa and Razak said he will be okay to use the number. Razak has also arrived in training, we allowed him to train with the full squad and we are now monitoring to see how he progresses before we resume league action.

“He came up with an introduction to the players and started training already and has been surprising his teammates with his ability to own the ball, and pass passes.

"He seems to be quick and has a quick decision with the ball which will have a good effect on us when the league starts and other competitions start so we are waiting for the league to start. The boy is on fire.”

The signing of Razak has been hailed as one of the reasons why Yanga will win the title in this campaign.

According to the club’s registration officer Hersi Said, the Jangwani giants are hopeful of wrestling the title from rivals Simba SC based on the level of investment they have done in the team.

“For a club to attain some of its set targets, you are forced to build a team based on the three areas, proper management, great technical department and sign top-class players, and as a team, we have already achieved that,” Said is quoted saying on his Instagram page.

“We have so far succeeded to do well in the aforementioned areas in a short time and it is the reason we managed to win the Mapinduzi Cup tournament held in Zanzibar two weeks ago and also why we are still leading the table and with an unbeaten record.

“God has done wonders for this great team and we will continue to ask him to protect our team, as we also strive to build the team so that we can have a successful campaign, and we hope we will all celebrate at the end of the season with the transformation we are currently going through.

“For now, we want to inform our fans that our main target is to win the league title this season, and we ask them to rally behind the team, we move together in this journey and God will see us through.”

Yanga are topping the 18-team table with 44 points from 18 matches.