The agent of Flying Eagles star Bernard Bulbwa has maintained his player has yet to conclude negotiations with Esperance and as such he is not a player of the Tunisian club.
Bulbwa has reportedly signed a five-year contract with Esperance after his stunning winner at the recent African Youth Championship in Senegal.
But UK-based agent Frankie Stephen has now told AfricanFootball.com no contract has been agreed between him and the top Tunisian club.
“Bernard Bulbwa is not a player of Esperance Sportive de Tunis,” declared Stephen.
“They invited the player to Tunis, they met with him and all sorts of terms were discussed and unfortunately Esperance are yet to meet the demands I put up for my player and the transfer fee for his academy.
“They promised to speak to me for negotiations to continue, but so far they have not met their side of the bargain. It has been one promise after the other.”
He continued: “I was supposed to meet the vice president of Esperance in London on the 22 of April, he did not turn up. I called him several times prior to this meeting so he could confirm he was coming over, he never returned my calls.
“On the day of the meeting I called him several times, he never returned or picked my calls. I sent him a text in the evening and he never responded.
“I later got a text from him saying something had come up and he was not going to make the trip.
“We were then scheduled to meet on 8 of May, he did not turn up. We were to meet on the 13 of May, he did not turn up.
“Now I am not sure that all those statements credited to Esperance that Bernard Bulbwa is their player are true.
“I say it again categorically that Bernard Bulbwa is not a player of Esperance.
“If they were to meet our proposals then we could say negotiations would be fruitful, but as we stand right now, Bernard is focused a 100% on winning the U20 World Cup in New Zealand with Nigeria.
“He’s happy and totally committed to his duties with the Flying Eagles.”
Stephen said he would be forced to take the next step of action if Esperance failed to come to the table.
“I intend to follow the right procedures. Whatever it is that they have discussed with my player, I have not seen any paper work. I have been asking them to send me whatever it is they have. They have not sent to me. They have sent me nothing,” he said.
“I say 100% again my player is not a player of Esperance until they prove otherwise.
“As a professional football intermediary, I owe it to my player to look at the content of whatever it is a club is asking him to sign so as to at least advise him.
“Bernard Bulbwa is a super talented footballer, but he is not a professional football intermediary or agent. He needs me, he’s my client and I have to guide him.”
Picture BBC
