AmaZulu FC head coach Pablo Franco Martin has shared his first thoughts on former Orlando Pirates goalkeeper Richard Ofori, who has started training with the side in efforts to get his career back on track.
This website broke the story, on Sunday, that the Ghanaian international had reached a verbal agreement with AmaZulu to join on a free transfer and would be travelling to Durban to undergo a brief assessment and medical before completing his move.
Ofori has since sent his goodbyes at Pirates, where he spent four years and won multiple trophies.
READ | DONE DEAL: KZN side signs in-demand Ofori
Now, Martin has reluctantly spoken about the club's latest signing, providing clarity on his readiness to slot in with the goalkeeping department looking shaky at present.
Veli Mothwa dropped to the bench for the match against Kaizer Chiefs on Wednesday, following his howler against Polokwane City in the season opener, with young Olwethu Mzimela thrown in at the deep end.
Mzimela, though, did not cover himself in glory, as his inexperience for all of the goals conceded as AmaZulu lost 3-1.
"Unfortunately, the Director of Football is not here and he is the one who should speak about signings," said the Spaniard when asked about Ofori.
"But I like to be honest, he (Ofori) came two days ago and has been training the team and, you know, he is a great goalkeeper with a lot of experience.
"I don't know if you remember this, but he is the one who sent me home in the quarter-finals of the CAF Champions League when we played here as Simba SC against Orlando Pirates. He saved two penalties and [on] top of that scored the winning one.
"But he is also a player who has not played for a long time, so we wanted to see him. He is keen to sign for us, so let's see what happens in the coming hours.
READ | 'Words fail me...' - Ofori breaks silence on Pirates exit
"He is a free agent and it's a discussion that the club, the Director of Football, technical staff, player and agent need to have and see if we can reach an agreement," he added.
KickOff has it on good authority that the bulky net minder could well be unveiled as an AmaZulu player in the coming days.
Ofori brings an added layer of experience to the side's goalkeeping department that has relied heavily on Mothwa far too often, while Mzimela, for all his talent and promise, is still cutting his teeth.