Veteran play maker Dawit Estifanos landed a lucrative one year contract extension with knock-out holders Mekelakya. Dawit played for eight different teams including Ethiopia Bunna, Ethio-Electric and Dedebit in over a decade in the Premier League.
With over ten years in the upper tier, controversy surrounded Dawit Estifanos, but that appears to be getting better thanks to the downslide of Ethiopian Football standards. Though slow and sometimes completely out of form, he can really dictate the outcome of any showdown like Ethiopia Bunna’s 1-0 shocking defeat to Mekelakya three weeks ago. That defeat triggered the sacking of French Coach Didier Gomes as well the popular opposition against Board Chairman Lieutenant Fekade Mamo. This came down to Dawit’s exceptional brilliance in that single game.
Though the amount for the contract extension is not public insiders disclosed Dawit is going to collect a 125,000 Birr after tax monthly salary. According to sources, under pressure Coach Seyoum Kebede was the main man behind the contract agreement. “I assure you Seyoum has a hard time to manage Dawit. But he knows how influential the player is and knows he has seen the fall of a number of Coaches who stood against Dawit,” a former national team player suggested.
With four wins, five draws and six defeats Mekelakya is currently 11th in the league table with 17 points just six points clear of the relegation zone. After conceding the highest amount of goals in the first round at 27, the Army side’s attack is dependent on one member of the strike force, Menyelu Wondemu who scored 11 of the 19 goals and thus sits on top of the leading scorers’ chart.
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