Lecce: Banda has been located but does not want to return

After being missing for over a week, Lameck Banda has been located. The Lecce forward has not yet returned from Zambia: he was expected by the Giallorossi on July 21 for the start of preseason training, but he never showed up. Furthermore, during the following week, he never answered his phone or contacted anyone, causing concern among the Salento-based club’s management.

In the last few hours, the player was located by an outside source and explained that his absence was due to logistical and bureaucratic issues that prevented him from returning to Italy: he is currently expected to be in Austria with his teammates at training camp. A video has also been circulating on social media showing him training on the field.

Banda has stated that he is doing well but has no intention of returning to Lecce at this time. The player’s contract expires in 2027, and at this time, the Giallorossi have not received any offers for him.

The Salento club’s concern had been growing day by day, prompting sporting director Stefano Trinchera to speak publicly about the matter. “We haven’t heard from Banda in two weeks now, and neither have his agents,” he told the Corriere del Mezzogiorno. “I’m starting to think that behind this situation there isn’t a strategy to extract who knows what from Lecce, but rather that there’s some personal issue. Unfortunately, we’ve started to think along those lines as well, because what’s happening is highly unusual.” President Saverio Sticchi Damiani also expressed his concern: “The player has vanished without a trace. I don’t know the purpose of this behavior, and I hope there aren’t more serious issues involving him that we’re unaware of.”

In the weeks leading up to his disappearance, it had been speculated that Banda was pushing for a transfer, given the strong interest from Al-Fateh, a Saudi club that had offered the Zambian a very lucrative contract. Lecce, however, had opposed the transfer. That theory has since been ruled out: the Saudi club subsequently made offers for other players in his position, and even Banda’s own agents were unable to contact him, making the idea of a coordinated strategy highly implausible.