After a long time in the shadow of rivals APR, Rayon Sport are now negotiating a sponsorship deal with German company Mamisch Dental Health A.G for a $2290.000 (Frw 190m),the biggest sponsorship deal in the club's history.

According to chairman Abdullah Murenzi, the sponsorship deal will not just put the club in very good financial health but also put them in a position to dominate local football for years. "We have not yet finalized the deal but it will be in the region of $200.000, which we shall use in running costs. Our main target is to dominate local football and also be a major force in the region and continent," Murenzi said.

The Blues signed a five year deal last worth Rwf40m with Nyanza District and Murenzi says that money will now be used to recruit players when the deal with Mamisch Dental Health is concluded.

Mamisch Dental Health is a renowned health clinic in Germany and on top of funding Rayon Sport, they also plan to construct a clinic in Nyanza and provide playing kits.

Rayon Sport publicist Olivier Gakwaya told Focus Sport that the club has been using Frw 100m as running costs, most of that money coming from their more than one million fans.

"This deal will not mean that fans stop contributing to the club because we have several projects that we want to start which include a football academy," Gakwaya said, adding the club will continue mobilizing funds as usual.

Regis Muramira, a veteran sports journalist says there is no club in the top flight which has a budget of over Frw 200m annually excluding player transfer funds, and agrees that if Rayon pulls off the deal, then they will dominate local football. "APR used to have a similar budget and you can see that they won 14 league titles in 18 years plus countless other trophies. But after changing policy to use only local players, their budget has considerably gone down, that is why they failed to lure players like Faustin Usengimana, who decided to remain with Rayon Sport," Muramira says.

However, that argument is contested by Ramazan Uwimana who is a lifelong fan of the club and has closely monitored it since the early 1990s. "Rayon Sport's problems have never been how to generate income but the lack of coordination, selfish interests and poor management of the club," he says. "A club with over one million fans can leverage that to attract major sponsorship deals but until recently the club was poorly managed which turned away potential sponsors."

The 48-year-old, who never misses the team's matches, adds that money alone will not guarantee success but good management of the resources and coordination of the team's activities will also help.

The Blues will begin pre-season training this week with Coach Didier Gomez da Rosa planning friendlies with clubs from the region to assess his squad ahead of the new season. Rayon Sport has already landed an invitation from Tanzanian champions Yanga.

The Frenchman told this paper that they now need to bring in one striker and are monitoring Amavubi forward Meddie Kagere or Burundian International Fiston Abdulazak. The club has already brought in Pappy Kamazi, Djihad Bizimana (Etincelles), Jean Claude Rwaka (La Jeunesse) and Arafat Serugendo (Mukura).

Rivals not sleeping

Rayon Sport's is not alone in rebuilding its team. Rivals Police have not sleeping; the law enforcers recently overhauled their administration as well coaching structure, bringing in experienced Ugandan tactician Sam Ssimbwa.

Police have so far signed five players who include strikers who are: Jimmy Mbaraga (AS Kigali), Emmanuel Sebanani Crespo (Mukura), Kipson Atuheire (URA), midfielders Ngirishuti Mwemere (Kiyovu) and Jean Paul Mutabazi (Muhanga FC), Hassan Gasonzera (AS Muhanga), Djabil Mutarambirwa (Kiyovu).

As for APR, chairman Maj. Gen Alex Kagame says the club is ready to challenge for silverware after a trophyless season, the first time such a scenario happened in many years.

"Many of our players last season didn't have experience at the top level and many injuries to our strikers affected us, but towards the end, as evidenced by the Cecafa cup final finish, the players had matured and were ready to return the club to the top," Kagame says.

The military side has also beefed up their midfield with arrival of Michel Fils Nda-hindurwa from Bugesera and Ernest Sugira from Peace Cup finalists AS Muhanga and also added the youthful Isonga pair of Olivier Kwizera and Patrick Sibomana from Isonga.

With the top clubs beefing up the squads, many football pundits are finding it hard to predict next year's Primus league champions.