JORDAN Zemura is already seen as a star in the Italian Seria A despite seeing only 45 minutes of action for his new club Udinese in the season opener last week.
Carrying an improved 6-million-euro market value badge, the Warriors utility is in the top 200 of the 500-plus Seria A players in this regard.
Although he missed the later part of the English Premier League season last term after his decision to leave Bournemouth for Udinese for free, Zemura’s status as a professional player has always been growing.
But the 23-year-old knows it’s now time to really grind it out on the field of play.
He could be thrown into the Starting 11 when his team travel to face Salernitana for their Match Day Two encounter at the Stadio Arechi tonight.
The match kicks off at 6:30pm.
Zemura made his historical bow in the Seria A when coming off the bench at the start of the second half in a 3-0 defeat to Juventus last week.
He showed some glimpses of brilliance deployed in an advanced left flank position.
But with Udinese already 3-0 down at the break, Zemura couldn’t salvage much.
And he might be thrown into the starting lineup for tonight’s trip to The Granata.
“What’s important for me, I think, is to play well and help the team achieve their targets,” Zemura told The Herald.
“I am very happy to see my market value gaining so much. But all this doesn’t matter if I do not show up for the team.
“I am not only representing myself in Italy, I am representing my country as well.
“So I have to really put in the work and pave the way for more Zimbabweans to come and play in Italy.
“I am very happy to be the first Zimbabwean playing here and it’s actually a huge responsibility that I am carrying.
“The secret, I think, is to play well and make sure I make an impact.
“Our next match is a trip to Salernitana and it’s a tough game. I can’t say much but I will throw everything into it should I get minutes”.
Andrea Sottil’s charges have to get a result against the Antonio Candreva-inspired side to avoid slipping into the red zone just two matches into the season.
While the Friulians suffered a 3-0 hiding at the hands of former champions Juventus on the opening day of the term, Salernitana fell just short of causing a major upset in their own game against Roma.
They were leading 2-1 until late in the match when Roma drew level to force a share of the spoils.
Udinese stand a chance of winning this one with bookmakers projecting a 36 percent winning probability for them to Salernitana’s 35 percent.
And Zemura will be hoping that he gets to play more minutes and help the team get their first set of maximum points to pave the way for a better than 12th place finish they attained last season.
