HARARE – Tawanda Blessing Chirewa wrote his own piece of history by becoming the sixth Zimbabwean English Premier League starter after appearing for his side Wolverhampton Wanderers against Arsenal on a Saturday.
The 20-year-old Warriors prospect follows Zimbabwe football legends Bruce Grobbelaar, Peter Ndlovu, Benjani Mwaruwari, Marvelous Nakamba and Jordan Zemura to feature in a first 11 line-up of an English premiership club.
Much to the delight of Zimbabwean football fans who were glued to their television screens weekend, Chirewa made a good impression at Molineux, after Wolves were severely depleted by injuries, with the manager handing a first start to the forward.
Chirewa was subbed off in the 75th minute and took a good player’s rating against title chasers Arsenal, who won 2-0 on match day 33 of the 2023/2024 season.
Born in Chelmsford, England, Chirewa chose to represent Zimbabwe’s Warriors ahead of England’s Three Lions and got his first senior national team call up from interim coach, Norman Mapeza, for a regional tournament held in Malawi in March this year.
However, he failed to turn up for the tournament, citing the need to fight for game time back at Wolves while promising to commit to the Warrior’s upcoming international fixtures.
The attacking midfielder signed for Wolverhampton last September from championship side Ipswich Town and made an FA Cup debut against Brentford on 5 January.
He then went on to make his premier league debut for Wolves against Brighton and Hove Albion two weeks later.
On 20 April, Chirewa made his first premier league start for Wolves against Arsenal.
The young professional’s current transfer value is between €0.9M and €1.5M and could rise considering the current game exposure he has recently had.
The dreadlocks styled Chirewa wears jersey number 62, and his main position is an attacking midfielder sometimes playing as a left winger.
