IT is business as usual for ousted Chipolopolo striker Fashion Sakala in the Saudi Pro League with the top man opening his scoring account for the new season despite his side Al Feiha’s 4 – 1 loss to Al Nassr.

Given his scoring prowess and form, Sakala should ordinarily be an automatic inclusion in the Chipolopolo squad ahead of next week’s Africa Cup of Nations (AfCON) clashes against Ivory Coast and Sierra Leone.

Zambia plays Ivory Coast on September 6 in that country before hosting Sierra Leone at the Levy Mwanawasa Stadium three days later in Group G encounters of the qualifiers.

As such, Grant is expected to name his squad for the two games with most fans eagerly waiting to see if the Israeli will name Sakala in his team given the bad blood between the two.

For the uninitiated, Fashion Sakala accused Grant of biases in player selection, something the latter did not take kindly before branding the striker a lair.

Sakala has not been called up for national team duties since his last appearance during the 2023 (played in 2024) Africa Cup of Nations (AfCON) match against Morocco in January.

With striker Paston Daka out injured, the need for a proven scorer is huge for Grant ahead of the two crucial games but it is unlikely that Sakala will be called up despite his form.

Speaking of his form, Sakala came up against his idol, Cristiano Ronaldo on Tuesday night and managed to score a goal despite his team’s heavy defeat to Al Nassr.

This was Sakala’s first goal of the season and the player will be hoping that he will have the same impact he had last season when he was the club’s top scorer with 19 goals in 31 games.

Tuesday’s goal was Sakala’s 57th in 125 league games across three leagues since the 2020/2021 season.