Malawi National Women’s Football and Ascent Soccer Academy player Rose Kabzere has sealed a three-year deal with the French top-flight league side Montpellier Hérault Sport Club Féminines.
Ascent Academy coach Thom Mkolongo confirmed the 18-year-old’s deal, but said she will join the club after passing a medical test and once the processing of her visa is finalised.
“We have already agreed terms with the French side and the player’s work permit is already out. However, we are waiting for the medical test and visa processing to be finalised. Once that is done, she might be leaving for France by the end of this month,” he said.
The player also confirmed the deal, describing it as unprecedented.
“It is my prayer that I pass the medicals. Otherwise, I am very excited with the move because it has been my dream to play professional football abroad,” she said.
If the deal materialises, Kabzere will become Malawi’s third women’s football player overseas after Tabitha Chawinga and her sister and Temwa.
Tabitha completed a move to French champions Olympique Lyonnais Féminines while Temwa plays for United States of America’s side Kansas City Current.
Kabzere, who scored 21 goals in Ascent’s Central Region Women’s Football League title win recently, was spotted by Montpellier during her trials with the defending CAF Women’s Champions League champions Mamelodi Sundowns Women of South Africa last year.
She earned her women’s football national team debut in 2022 at the Cosafa Women’s Championship and went on to be nominated for the inaugural Cosafa Awards Women’s Promising Player Awards alongside her teammate and eventual winner Leticia Chinyamula.
Kabzere also won the Golden Boot at the Region 5 Youth Games, which doubled as Cosafa Under-17 Championships, in December 2022.
