African Cup of Nations winner signs on

Forward Emmanuel Mayuka, a Zambian forward and part of their squad that triumphed in this years African Cup of Nations has joined Saints for an undisclosed fee on a five year contract.




Mayuka celebrates scoring for his country in the African Cup of Nations Semi-final v Ghana.

21 year old Mayuka joins Saints for a fee rumoured to be in the region of 3 million euros from swiss side Young Boys Bern. The prolific forward scored 32 goals in 2 season in Switzerland and had been linked with a move to QPR before Saints moved in and captured the pacey, tricky forward.

Before playing for Young Boys Mayuka made his name in a two year stretch at Maccabi Tel Aviv in Israeli, despite his tender age he scored 8 goals in 41 games and nearly moved to Porto but the move never materialised. Before this Mayuka first had a taste of first team football with his home-town side and one of the biggest clubs in Zambia; Kabwe Warriors.

Makuya really made his name though with his sparkling performances in the most recent African Cup of Nations held in Gabon and Equatorial Guinea. Zambia triumphed against all expectations with Makuya joint top competition scorer with three goals. His electric pace and flamboyant skill played a key role in Zambia's first ever ACN victory, his 78th minute strike against Ghana and converted penalty in the final shootout against Ivory Coast proving decisive.

An extremely exciting talent and still only 21 years old despite his relative experience, it will be exciting to see how he fits in at St Mary's. Welcome to the Saints Emmanuel.