BLACKBURN striker and former Zimbabwe captain Benjani Mwaruwari is set to take UEFA coaching badges during the off-season as he weighs his career options.

The striker, 32, is out of contract at the end of the current season, although the English Premier League club have indicated they may extend his stay.

“I have decided to take my coaching badges during the off-season because I’m reaching an age where I have to consider my future,” Mwaruwari told New Zimbabwe.com.

He added: “I still think I have the legs for another year or so at the top, but when it is all over I have plans to go back to Zimbabwe and set up an academy in Bulawayo to help others follow my footsteps.

“I have already been given land by the Bulawayo City Council for the project. The plan would be to identify the most talented youngsters from around the country, bring them into the academy and prepare them for professional football. The academy will also finance their education.”

The former Portsmouth and Manchester City striker has had a remarkable career – a rags-to-riches story which began in Bulawayo’s Magwegwe suburb where he sold cigarettes to get by as a young boy.

Benjani later joined Chegutu Pirates before a shock call-up to the national team led to him being snatched by South African club, Jomo Cosmos, after the Warriors played Bafana Bafana at former President Thabo Mbeki's inauguration in 1999. He moved to Grasshoppers in Switzerland in 2001 before joining Auxerre in France after one season.

His dream move to the English Premier League came in 2006 when he signed for Portsmouth in a £4,1 million deal. He moved to Manchester City in 2008 -- his most productive season yet with 14 goals -- and had a short loan spell at Sunderland before signing for Blackburn last summer.