Harare — AFTER a largely forgettable year on the sidelines Onismor Bhasera has finally been granted free-agent status and can now join a club of his choice without anymore hassles.

It has emerged that Bhasera, who was forced into inactivity following a bitter contractual dispute with South African Premiership giants Kaizer Chiefs, was recently freed by world soccer governing Fifa.

Bhasera's handlers had taken the player's row with Chiefs to Fifa with the South African club insisting that the Warriors international still had a year's contract with them when he sneaked out of Naturena to look for a club overseas.

The former Harare United and Maritzburg United defender had first set his sights on joining a French club before he eventually found himself in England.

A deal with troubled English Premiership side Portsmouth had appeared imminent but Pompey and Chiefs could not agree terms and the move was stalled. Pompey had in fact been chasing Bhasera's signature since August 2008 and even won an appeal with the UK immigration authorities to have the player granted a work permit despite Zimbabwe being out of the top 70 nations on the Fifa rankings.

After the English club had cleared the major hurdle over Bhasera's work permit, Pompey indicated that they would support the player's case at Fifa insisting that their dispute with Chiefs was on the transfer value of the player they had believed to be a free agent.

"The situation is that Onismor believes he is a free agent and Kaizer Chiefs say he is not, so we have asked Fifa to look into it to enable us to progress with the move. We want the player to sign for Pompey but he can only do so once we know the true nature of his registration," read a statement on the Portsmouth website in September last year.

But crippling financial problems meant Pompey could not sign any new players following a ruling by the English Premier League, which also wanted to use the club's seven million pound share of television revenue to pay debts that Portsmouth owed to other clubs.

After enduring the frustration of failing to join Pompey Bhasera had then turned his sights on joining English Championship side Sheffield Wednesday just in time for the January 31 transfer deadline but again that move hit a snag with the Zimbabwe international failing a medical.

Bhasera was on the verge of signing for Sheffield Wednesday after agreeing terms with Amakhosi but a medical test revealed that he had a problem in one of his knees.

Fifa who appear to have been guided by the fact that there were only four months now left before Bhasera's contract with Chiefs ended, then ruled that he is now a free agent.

Bhasera would now have to fully recover from his knee problem before he can resume a career that has been pegged back by more than a year of inactivity, which even his former manager Regis Dzenga felt, was "too long a period on the sidelines for a professional player.

"It is sad really for a player like Onismor with all his talent to just waste away a whole year without getting clarity on where he is heading to," Dzenga said.

Despite the dispute having raged on for more than a year, reports from South Africa indicate that although the controversy around Bhasera's departure was cause for concern Amakhosi appear to be over the problems.

According to top-selling soccer magazine Kick-Off Chiefs, swift reaction to swoop on Bhasera's fellow Zimbabwe international Zhaimu Jambo as a replacement has paid off.

Jambo has looked remarkably comfortable and has fitted into the left back position since taking over from his Warriors teammate. Although he has had to alternate with Punch Masenamela, Jambo has looked the more solid defender.

The magazine noted that while not afraid to push forward, former Gunners skipper Jambo has proved to be the more balanced option as Masenamela -- while exciting on the run -- hasn't shown to be as reliable in defence just yet.

Although Jambo's progress was hindered by minor injuries early on he has since helped the Chiefs' faithful to forget totally about Bhasera who had excelled on the left during his two-year stay. Bhasera had joined from Maritzburg.

But it is Jambo who is now having a time of his life since arriving at Naturena together with fellow Zimbabweans -- teenage striker Knowledge Musona and defender Thomas Sweswe.

Their arrival took to four the number of Zimbabweans at chiefs as Amakhosi already had gritty Warriors midfielder and club vice-captain Tinashe Nengomasha on their books.

"Nothing beats the feeling of playing regularly at a new club especially a club as big as Kaizer Chiefs that is known around Africa," Jambo said.

The slim defender also revealed that he could have easily been a Mamelodi Sundowns player two years ago.

"I was playing for Gunners back home and Sundowns bought me an air ticket to come for trials but when I got there they were busy preparing for the MTN8 cup final against Chiefs that I didn't even train with them for a day.

"I came to Joburg, slept over and then returned to Harare without even going to Chloorkop (Sundowns base). So it went up in smoke just like that," said Jambo of his failed move. He said this was then followed by trials at Helsinborg IF. But Jambo did not hear from the Swedish club and signed for Chiefs instead.

The Warriors international believes he had already surpassed his initial targets.

"Things are working out the way I planned. Playing regularly is what I wanted when I got here. My mission was to play at last half the games in the league and I have already achieved that. This is a season in which I had to play to showcase my skills and prove that I am worth being here especially after all the talk about us Zimbabweans when we got here," Jambo said.

Jambo has however, not had it easy with an Achilles tendon injury threatening to ruin his early days at Chiefs.

"Imagine me, a new player getting injured in pre-season and being out for four weeks.

"That injury made me feel the pressure. I thought the club was thinking they bought an injured player. There is nothing as bad as getting injured in pre-season at a new club".

And when he overcame the injury, the 22-year-old, who began his career with the Dynamos juniors, he faced the challenge of proving himself with memories of Bhasera's exploits still fresh.

His first match was an intimidating contest with Shaun Wright-Phillips in the Vodacom Challenge final against Manchester City.

That match must have proved to Jambo how far away he was from playing for the modest Gunners back home in Harare.

"I knew Bhasera had done well at Chiefs plus people told me that critics were questioning whether I would be able to succeed him.

"I admired Bhasera and what he did inspired me to follow in his footsteps.

"Then facing up to probably the fastest winger in the world in Shaun got my head jerked up right away and made me realise the challenges I was about to face. Shaun gave me a torrid time but I feel I handled him well.

"I have since adopted to the strategy of always forcing the opponent to do what I want him to rather than what suits him. I come up against way too many fast wingers so I always make sure that they don't turn by closing them down," Jambo said.

He also spoke about the importance of winning the hearts of the Chiefs demanding fans.

"You have to win the fans' confidence early for you to be able to play your normal game. There is a winning culture here at Chiefs, which the fans demand is maintained. There has been a noticeable improvement in my game and the more game time I get the better my confidence especially when there are people around me telling me that I can do it. The team is also playing a system that suits me. Having people to talk to like Thomas (Sweswe) has been helpful, he knows what I can do".

The Chiefs fans have since nicknamed Jambo -- Jumbo Jet 747 -- after the famous aircraft.

But for all the promising start he has had to his Chiefs career, Jambo remains modest.

"Consistency is what I am aiming to achieve rather than being man of the match in one game and then disappearing. The competition I am facing here at Chiefs is different from back home where I was guaranteed of playing if I was fit. And that will make me a better player".

Jambo recently scored his first Chiefs goal, a cheeky strike from the tightest of angles against Bhasera's former club Maritzburg and he made it one to remember.

"When I raised my head the only option I had was to try my luck by taking a shot and it went in at the near post where the 'keeper didn't expect it . . . it was a lucky goal."

Chiefs have always had a problem with their left back position but such players like Rudolph Seale, Ntsie Maphike, Bhasera and now Jambo have restored the club's strength in that area.