{"id":47114,"date":"2021-09-24T19:18:58","date_gmt":"2021-09-24T17:18:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/?p=47114"},"modified":"2021-09-24T19:14:17","modified_gmt":"2021-09-24T17:14:17","slug":"zimbabwean-starlet-chikukwa-signs-for-watford","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.cc\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/zimbabwean-starlet-chikukwa-signs-for-watford","title":{"rendered":"Zimbabwean Starlet Chikukwa Signs For Watford"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"color: #ff6600\"><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/\">Africa-Press<\/a> &#8211; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\">Zimbabwe<\/a>. <\/strong><\/span><b>By Sports Reporter<\/b> &#8211;<\/p>\n<p>ENGLAND-BASED Zimbabwean teenage forward Jimiel Chikukwa has made a major breakthrough in his promising career after sealing a move to English Premier League side Watford.<\/p>\n<p>The former Leeds United youth player had been on trial at Watford for the last two weeks and scored in games against both Hull City and Crewe Alexandra\u2019s Under-23s.<\/p>\n<p>Chikukwa will initially join up the Watford academy with the hope of breaking into the Premier League side\u2019s first team.<\/p>\n<p>Watford confirmed the signing of Chikukwa in a statement on their official website on Thursday.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWatford FC Academy is pleased to announce the signing of exciting young forward Jimiel Chikukwa. The 18-year-old joins the Hornets after a successful trial period, following his departure from Leeds United in the summer. Chikukwa has already scored in a Watford shirt, against both Hull City and Crewe Alexandra\u2019s (2) Under-23 sides,\u201d the club said.<\/p>\n<p>Speaking to the club website, Chikukwa, who was born in England to Zimbabwean parents described himself as a \u201cpoacher\u201d known for scoring goals in the box.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m delighted, I\u2019ve had to be really patient over the summer to get this done but I\u2019m just buzzing that it\u2019s happened now,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Chikukwa had played for Leeds since the age of 13, but decided it was time for a new challenge ahead of the ongoing campaign.<\/p>\n<p>He said: \u201cI was out of contract and looking for a club, and I got the opportunity to come down to Watford.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m willing to take any opportunity that comes in football because I love it, and I\u2019m delighted the decision\u2019s paid off.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019ve settled in quite well, I\u2019m enjoying it. It\u2019s quite far from home but all of the lads have made me feel welcome.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Both of Chikukwa\u2019s goals against Crewe were from close range, demonstrating the youngster\u2019s ability to burst into the six-yard box.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019d say I like to run in behind,\u201d he continued. \u201cI\u2019m one of those types of strikers, but also I\u2019m a bit of a poacher, so those balls in and around the six-yard box I\u2019m usually there.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m pacey, I like to get on the ball and show what I can do, I can beat a man.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Jimiel was born on April 8, 2003 in UK to Zimbabwean parents; Tawanda and Pascaria Chikukwa. He plays as a left\/right winger or central striker.<\/p>\n<p>Prior to his move to Watford, Chikukwa has been in the Leeds United development structures for the past five years. Last season he was the leading goal-scorer for the Leeds Under-18 side<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Africa-Press &#8211; Zimbabwe. By Sports Reporter &#8211; ENGLAND-BASED Zimbabwean teenage forward Jimiel Chikukwa has made a major breakthrough in his promising career after sealing a move to English Premier League side Watford. The former Leeds United youth player had been on trial at Watford for the last two weeks and scored in games against both [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":47113,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,35,16,15],"tags":[1493,2189,19],"class_list":{"0":"post-47114","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-all-news","8":"category-homepage-english","9":"category-sport","10":"category-twitter","11":"tag-africa-press","12":"tag-africa-press-zimbabwe-2","13":"tag-zimbabwe"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v24.1 (Yoast SEO v24.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Zimbabwean Starlet Chikukwa Signs For Watford - zimbabwe<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"By Sports Reporter - ENGLAND-BASED Zimbabwean teenage forward Jimiel Chikukwa has made a major breakthrough in h ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/zimbabwean-starlet-chikukwa-signs-for-watford\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Zimbabwean Starlet Chikukwa Signs For Watford\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Sports Reporter - 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