SuperSport United and Chippa united are rumoured to be tussling for the signature of Orlando Pirates striker Bienvenu Eva Nga.
The bustling striker saw little action with the Soweto giants last term, having arrived from the Chilli Boys in July 2022.
The Cameroon international striker featured in 15 matches in all competitions, scoring just one goal, which came in a win against Swallows on the opening day of 2022/23.
It was a good start for him at Pirates but after that, Nga didn’t increase his tally much and failed to secure a starting place, losing it to Zakhele Lepasa, Kermit Erasmus and Terrence Dzvukamanja.
On top of these forwards, Pirates can also call upon Evidence Makgopa, Souiabou Marou – Nga’s countryman, who joined in the January transfer window.
Even after Lepasa left to join SuperSport on loan, Eva Nga only featured in 61 minutes in the second half of the campaign. As things stand, it seems highly unlikely SuperSport will get Lepasa back from Pirates.
The 26-year-old scored the second goal when Bafana Bafana beat Morocco in the Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers two weeks ago and Pirates are understood to be keen for him to return and fight for his place after he received high praise from coach Hugo Broos and also legend Doctor Khumalo.
With SuperSport set to miss out on him, they are now looking at getting Eva Nga, who their coach Gavin Hunt knows well after having signed him when he was at Bidvest Wits from Costa Do Sol in Mozambique in the 2018/19 season, where he scored 24 goals to win the Mocambola title in December 2019.
Hunt, initially and before getting Lepasa, was interested in getting Terrence Dzvukamanja in the second half of the season from Pirates, but missed out and the Zimbabwe striker flourished by leading Pirates to second spot to qualify for the CAF Champions League and the Nedbank Cup title.
He scored the winner in injury-time in the Ke Yona Cup final against Sekhukhune United last month in Pretoria, which completed an incredible turnaround for him at the club after he was initially booed by the club’s own fans but ended up with eight goals.
As much as Dzvuka saw little action in the first half of 2022/23 – leading Hunt to show interest, it doesn’t look like he will get him now, as Pirates are set to exercise the option in his contract.
It is why Hunt has turned to Eva Nga for more depth in his attack this coming season.
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Just like Pirates, SuperSport will feature in the CAF club competition next season – the CAF Confederation Cup after finishing third in the table and they are in desperate need of numbers up top following the departure of Thamsanqa Gabuza.
Nga joined Pirates after spending two seasons with Chippa, scoring 16 goals in 60 appearances, with 10 of them coming in his impressive second campaign in Gqeberha.
Those goals went a long way as Chippa’s status was saved, and renewed interest of the Chilli Boys in their former striker doesn’t come as surprise.
Story by Robin-Duke Madlala (@duke_robin).
