Highlanders acting chief executive officer Ronald Moyo said that they are finding it difficult to sign new players since Sakunda Holdings became their principal sponsor last year.
Moyo said selling clubs are demanding astronomical fees for players Highlanders would want to sign because of the mistaken view that Bosso has limitless financial resources. Moyo said:
The coming in of Sakunda Holdings has not made things easy for us because if you approach a player or a club intending to seal a deal with them, they tend to think we have a lot of money.
Some teams are expecting to get something out of this world from us but we have a budget we work on.
As a result, we haven’t signed as many players that people and our fans would have wanted us to have.
There is generally a misconception that we have a huge budget to sign several players.
It’s no wonder we were forced to settle for Rahman Kutsanzira who was a free agent.
We have not been able to get all the players that we wanted.
Rahman Kutsanzira left three-time champions FC Platinum who are reportedly on a rebuilding exercise and was signed on a free transfer.
In September 2021, Highlanders and Dynamos entered into a partnership with Sakunda Holdings who unveiled a combined sponsorship package of about US$5.3 million.
Under the deal, Zimbabwe’s two largest clubs were guaranteed to receive US$900 000 per year each for salaries, bonuses and signing-on fees.
The energy company pledged to provide US$420 000 towards the payment of salaries for players and the technical team.
Bosso and DeMbare will also receive US$60 000 each year for players’ signing on fees.