Rayon Sports are edging closer to bringing back former head coach Juma Masudi to the club for a second spell as the Blues look to bounce back from last season’s poor showing. The club has been slow in the transfer market as they seek first to get a coach to replace Guy Bukasa who resigned from his position before the end of 2020/21 league season, minutes after losing 1-0 to rivals APR FC. Rayon Sports has been without a coach since the Congolese tactician’s departure and the club’s technical director Jean Baptiste Kayiranga stepped in as caretaker for the remainder of last season. A reliable source told Times Sport that Juma Masudi has reached an agreement to return to the club which he coached between 2015 and 2017 and could be announced as their new head coach before the end of this week. Jean Paul Nkurunziza confirmed to this publication that Masudi has held talks with Rayon Sports but a deal is yet to be confirmed. “He’s among the coaches that the club approached but no decision has been taken on who will take charge of the club,” Nkurinziza said. “We want to sign a coach who meets the club’s objectives and who understands the club’s philosophy, a coach with a winning mentality. Whoever will be appointed must be ready to deliver the league title which is our main target next season,” he added. During his first spell at Rayon, Masudi joined the club in November 2015 as an assistant coach under Belgian tactician Ivan Minneart. He later took charge of the club on an interim role until the end of 2015/16 season. During his interim tenure, he guided the club to a Peace Cup title and was rewarded with a three year-deal that would keep him at the club as head coach until 2020. The Burundian led the Blues to the league title in his first season after which he resigned from his role citing personal reasons. His resignation came three months after the club suspended him for two weeks following their exit from this season’s CAF Confederation Cup at the hands of Nigeria’s Rivers United over what the club described as ‘inappropriate conduct.’ The tactician later coached local top flight clubs like AS Kigali and Bugesera while he also served as assistant coach at Tanzanian club SC Simba. If Masudi joins Rayon Sports, he will have a huge task of building a good squad to challenge APR which has won the league title in two consecutive seasons without losing a single match. The Blues finished seventh last season, one of their worst performances in years. While the likes of APR FC, AS Kigali, Police FC and SC Kiyovu making big-money moves to beef up their squads ahead of next season, Rayon Sports has been relatively quiet in the transfer window. Nkurunziza said that the club is holding talks with a number of key players whose contribution can bring the league title next season. “We are looking for the type of players who can win the league title, which is our main objective next season,” Nkurunziza said.
