The Soccer Players Club Kaizer Chiefs amongst the three major teams in the country is going to be preoccupied next year come the January transfer period. Under Soccer Club Manager Nasreddine Nabi, Amakhosi has recruited new players. Nabi is a Tunisian national. Although the club have shown improvements, they are still ninth in the Betway Premiership after eight matches were played. New signings such as Rushwin Dortely and Gaston Sirino have hit the ground running under Nasreddine’s tactician skills.
Suspensions and injuries have halted Kaizer Chiefs’ progress which might prompt the club to get new players during the next transfer period. Before the season kicked off, the Glamour Boys were linked to several top players such as Khanyisa Mayo, Elias Mokwana, Fawaaz Basadien, Rian Hanamub, Asanele Velebay, Percy Tau, Oswin Appollis and Sirino. Out of these players, the club only managed to bring in Sirino, who was a free agent. In January, Amakhosi will need to break the bank to bring top players to Naturena. Velebayi is one player the club wanted to buy but Cape Town Spurs rejected their initial offer. The attacker has made it clear that he wants to leave the Urban Warriors and he might just do so in January.
With Bradley Cross out for two months, Kaizer Chiefs might look for a replacement in January. Basadien is another player the club failed to buy before settling for Cross.
Recruiting raw talent with the right stamina is the name of the game in professional sport. It can have great risk to a career in sports when injury occurs. The use of suspensions to discipline team members is another hazard that might do harm to a sporting career. If the player is reckless. New team mates like the recruits mentioned above may at first display such recklessness without the necessary experience. The recruiting process can be a challenge in and of itself. A new player being recruited if they are experienced will ask for incentives. The recruitment of Sirino was a lucky manoeuvre as he was not well connected to other teams. When they break the bank, they are referring to pulling out cheque books and determining the salaries for each player. Soccer or any other sport is a complex career.
Recruitment for replacements is not a simple task. If the replacements for suspended players are temporary rather than permanent then the incentives for recruitment and playing will have to be higher. Meanwhile there are several South African players who being recruited abroad for greener pastures ahead of the January transfer window.
With the January transfer window a few weeks away, several PSL stars have been linked with moves overseas. Briefly News examined the South African stars who left Mzansi at the start of the 2024/2025 PSL season to prove that local stars can excel away from home. Local stars such as Khuliso Mudau, Oswin Appollis, and Relebohile Mofokeng were linked with overseas moves in January, and they have five examples from which to draw inspiration. Mayo speaks about his future in the tweet below: Khanyisa Mayo, a former Cape Town City striker, moved to Algeria and scored twice, including a goal against Orlando Pirates in the CAF Champions League, after ten matches.
While Mayo is yet to find scoring form for the Algerian side, the striker said he would one day like to follow in the footsteps of his father, Patrick, and play for PSL giants Kaizer Chiefs.
South Africa will experience a brain drain of local talent when soccer players are recruited by clubs abroad. The country and possibly the rest of the southern African region needs to focus on what opportunities could motivate keeping local talent at home. One of the reasons why South African players are seeking opportunities abroad is because they can’t find place on the local teams at home. The Sports, Art and Culture Department alongside sports clubs and the private sector need to create new opportunities with in the country to keep the talent in. Many feel motivated to go abroad by the success of others. It is largely to seek more lucrative opportunities overseas.
Some of course like Mayo want to return to play for the home soil. This is because they still feel loyalty to South Africa as the country that raised them to such heights. Playing for a South African Soccer Club like Kaizer Chiefs is still a golden opportunity for local sportsmen.
Article written by:
Yacoob Cassim
Journalist at Radio Al Ansaar