Forum | Go to Choto? by EastR

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Go to Choto? 15:38 - Jul 31 with 2545 views

http://allafrica.com/stories/201307310721.html

ZIMBABWE international defender Dickson Choto has landed at English Championship side Queens Park Rangers and is being assessed by manager Harry Redknapp hoping to secure a contract with the ambitious London club. The 32-year-old defender, who has spent the last 10 years playing for Polish glamour club Legia Warsaw, flew into the British capital last Thursday and was quickly ushered into the QPR family.

Choto was at Bidvest Wits in the South African Premiership, with the hope of coming closer to home as he moves into the twilight of a very successful club career, but when an opportunity presented itself for a dance with the second-tier of English league football, he could not resist it.

Redknapp wants to create a team that features players who are committed to its cause after sharply criticising the egos of the heavily-paid stars, who didn't care about performance, he found when he arrived at the club during their time in the Premiership last season.

Choto's handlers, led by local Fifa-registered agent Kenny Mapeza, believe their experienced man fits that bill and could be a huge asset for Redknapp and his coaching staff if they can seal a deal for the big Zimbabwean defender.

The management team in charge of Choto believe he could provide Redknapp with the kind of defensive strength that he saw in Christopher Samba, the giant defender from Congo-Brazzaville, who was a big-name signing for the English manager from Russia during the January transfer window.

Samba, who also played for Blackburn Rovers in the English Premiership, was sold back to Russian club, Anzhi Makhachkala for £12 million, when QPR nose-dived back into the Championship at the end of the top-flight football season in May.

Choto, at 1.92cm, provides the same aerial strength like Samba, who stands at 1.94cm, and the Zimbabwean is a bit heavier, though, at 95kgs compared to the Congolese who is the more athletic of the duo at 83kgs.

The Zimbabwean defender is three years older than Samba.

Choto has been training with QPR since the weekend and his handlers believe that the coup was getting him to be accepted, for such an assessment, and they are bullish over their player's chances of landing a contract.