Sekagya, Thierry look to help Kizza prosper

Montreal Impact scouts did their part, following through their target until they got him. Now they can look back and nod in satisfaction after Mustafa Kizza, the KCCA youngster, who boasts of insane attacking attributes for a defender, penned a two-year renewable deal at the Major Soccer league (MLS) side.

Of course the coaching staff at any club ought to trust their scouts, otherwise there is no reason hey would go ahead to sign a certain player even when all they could have seen are videos of the target.
But more often than not, the coaches always have that one last voice they sound out to clear any lingering uncertainty.

The convo
And Montreal Impact coach, the legendary Arsenal great Thierry Henry, did exactly that; sounding out his ex-teammate at New York Redbulls, Ugandan Ibrahim Sekagya, on Kizza, 20, Tuesday.
“Titi (Thierry) called me, but we just talked briefly,” said Sekagya when Daily Monitor sought him out, “He was asking my opinion of the boy, whether I know him and whether he is a disciplined boy. “Ofcourse, I said good things about the boy because he is a good boy, we shall be in touch to see things work out for him.”
Sekagya’s opinion is highly regarded in football circles having captained Uganda for a long period of time, and led Red Bull Salzburg to league and Cup titles.

In his half a dozen years at Salzburg, Sekagya helped the team to three Austrian Bundesliga titles.
The 2008-09 Fans Player of the Year also captained Salzburg to the 2012 Australian Cup, and won the Supporters Shield with New York Redbulls the following year.
Currently, Sekagya is assistant coach at New York Redbulls B side, and is highly rated in regards to having an eye on young talent.

Fingers crossed
“Let’s keep our fingers crossed to see the boy (Kizza) make it through,” counselled Sekagya, “It’s good he is going to be in good hands with Titi and at least I am in touch with Titi frequently. “I will try to see how we can push him. I am also in touch with the boy and he seems excited and ready to join the new challenge.” Sekagya’s wish is to see Kizza seize the chance in the MLS to break into Europe, but is also keen not to collide with his agents as he seeks to help. Daily Monitor understands that agents of Emma Okwi and Faruku Miya were not amused when the former Ugandan captain tried to help the duo secure deals at Salzburg. Both moves collapsed.
Okwi returned to Tanzania and Miya moved to Standard Liege in Belgium, with the duo enduring stints and loan spells elsewhere before settling in at Al Ittihad Alexandria in Egypt and Konyaspor in Turkey respectively.
Back to Kizza, he will - in the interim - remain at KCCA until December, on loan from Montreal, because of the current Covid-19 situation.
The Canadian club, however, remain with the option of calling him back any time if the situation improves.