Inter milan beat PSG on Tabitha
Italian women’s football giants Inter Milan Femminile have seen off competition from French top side Paris Saint Germaine (PSG) to sign Malawian star Tabitha Chawinga on a year-long loan deal from Chinese Superleague side Wuhan Jiangda.
The Scorchers captain said in an interview from Milan that the two clubs approached her Chinese team for her services, but it was Inter, popularly known as Le Nerazzurre, who acted swiftly.
She said: “I arrived here on August 10 and underwent medical the following day.
“I reported for my first training session on Saturday with some of my new team-mates as the team was in the US for pre-season camping and they returned yesterday [Monday].
“The season starts on August 27 and I can’t wait to get started as this was the challenge that I have been looking forward to.”
The 26-year-old said the Italian club negotiated for a loan deal with an option for a permanent deal thereafter.
“I was accorded a warm welcome by Milan and I am really excited.
“The Italian league is ranked among the top 10 in the world. Financially, as foreigners, we earn more in China compared to European countries because of tax, but I could not resist the temptation of playing in a top European league where I will get a real test of my pedigree competing against the best. After four to five years in China, I needed a new challenge.
“I want to make my way back into the top 10 players in Africa and top 100 in the world and this is the ideal platform.”
Chawinga said Milan approached her club directly while PSG used her agent.
She said her Chinese team agreed a loan deal as they are tipped to retain the title, having won all their 10 league games so far in the 10-team league.
Chawinga is set to face stiff competition in the battle for a place as the team has five other international forwards, including Italy’s Gloria Marinelli and Regina Baresi, Belgian Ella Van Kerkhoven and Cameroonian star Ajara Nichout.
“I know it’s not going to be easy, but this is the sort of challenge I have been looking forward to,” she said.
Chawinga has since ruled herself out of the Women’s Cosafa Championship scheduled for August 31 to September 11.
She won last season’s Chinese Women’s Superleague golden boot and is the leading scorer in the current season.
Chawinga has also twice been named Chinese Women’s Footballer of the Year while playing for Jiansu Suning.
Previously, she won the Golden Boot Award in the Swedish women’s top league in 2017 despite her team Kvarnsvedens IK being relegated.
In his reaction, Football Association of Malawi president Walter Nyamilandu said: “What a breakthrough. It shows that Tabitha is in a class of her own. This is an inspiration for upcoming talented girls and source of pride for Malawi.”
On her part, National Women’s Football Association chairperson Suzgo Ngwira said the development is testimony that Chawinga is one of the best female players on the continent and in the world.
He said: “It has been long time coming. She deserves to rub shoulders with her fellow best players in the world.
“This will inspire local football players that it is possible. We are very proud of her and we wish her well in her new challenge.”
Last season, Milan finished third in the Women Serie A behind champions Juventus and Roma.
