Tusker utility player Shaffiq Batambuze will play his final match in the 2017 SportPesa Premier League this weekend on Sunday against AFC Leopards.
The Ugandan has agreed terms on a lucrative two-year deal with Singida United, a little-known club that was recently promoted to the Tanzanian Premier League.
“We have already finished the negotiations and he has agreed to go. He will play only one more match after which he will relocate to Tanzania. We wish him all the best,” said Tusker team manager George Opondo.
Batambuze has been steadily developing over the last three years. He featured for Uganda in the Africa Cup of Nations in Gabon this January after earning his first national team call up in November 2016.
He will be remembered at Tusker for scoring the goal that helped them confirm their status as SportPesa Premier League champions on the last day of the fixtures on November 6, last year against AFC Leopards in Nakuru.
The 22-year old, who joined Tusker in 2016, told kp.co.ke that it is the lure of money that convinced him to join the little-known Tanzanian side.
“I have enjoyed my time here at Tusker, but Singida are offering a better package and that is why I have decided to go,” he said.
Singida United are understandably strengthening their squad ahead of the new season which begins in August.
According to reports from Tanzania, they are looking to sign seven foreign players in the current transfer period. In addition to Batambuze (Uganda), the Tanzanian side have already acquired Zimbabweans Tafadwaza Kutinyu, Elisha Muroiwa and Wisdom Mtasa.
On Tuesday, Singida United signed a multi-million shirt sponsorship deal with sport betting company SportPesa, making it the third company to partner with the Kenya-based firm after Yanga and Simba.
