By MOSES CHIMFWEMBE –
ZAMBIA Football Coaches Association (ZAFCA) vice president Lewis Shambulo has urged Super Division side Lusaka Dynamos not to entertain any bids for teenage Chipolopolo striker Conlyde Luchanga.

. Luchanga

Luchanga, who marked his debut for the national team with a superb goal during Zambia’s 3-0 win over Mozambique in the African Nations Championship (CHAN) qualifier last Saturday, has attracted interest from various clubs among them Orlando Pirates and Zesco United.
But Shambulo cautioned against rushing into selling Luchanga as the player needs more time to develop and mature into a fully fledged striker.
“We should not make a mistake by rushing to sell Luchanga, he is still young and needs to mature. These are some of the big mistakes that we make and the results are there to see from those players, who were rushed and have failed to perform at their new clubs,” Shambulo said.
He urged the Dynamos officials to hold on to Luchanga for another two seasons so that the player could be ready to feature for any team.
Shambulo said the onus to save the player’s future prospects was incumbent upon the Dynamos’ leadership.
“Zambia has had bad experiences with regards to the selling of players and most players, whose careers have crumbled on the international stage, were rushed into professional football without gaining the necessary experience.
We should save the young boy’s future by allowing the development process to take its course,” he said.
Football administrator Henschel Chitembeya said Zambia has had its brilliant players fail to shine in the past and hence the need to treat Luchanga’s case with caution.
Chitembeya, who is aspiring for the FAZ presidency, said it was unfortunate that some administrators are bent at reaping huge sums of money out of raw players, whose potential is not explored fully.
“We have some of the players who are stuck in South Africa because they have failed to perform even when they were highly rated at some point.
This stems from the fact that clubs are into selling premature players and we should discourage the trend.
Luchanga deserves to sharpen his skills at his club without any disturbances from scouts,” Chitembeya said.