Basia Michaels, agent of outgoing Orlando Pirates defender Mbekezeli Mbokazi, revealed that a European club had made a shock offer before the player joined Chicago Fire.
Mbokazi was unveiled by the MLS side this week, joining on a four-year deal with an option, in a transfer reportedly worth $3 million (R53 million).
He will join Chicago after the Africa Cup of Nations set to take place in Morocco between December and January.
Michaels says that before they went on to sign with Chicago, a European club made them an offer of €150 000 (R2.9 million), which she described as a “slap in the face.”
She stated that they wouldn’t go beyond their initial offer, despite being shown what other clubs had put forward.
“I had an offer from two teams, one of the offers I had was a slap in the face,” said Michaels on UKhozi FM.
“It was a European team that made me an offer of €150 000 (R2.9 million), saying that they would not pay more money. So, they didn’t feel the need to pay more money for an African player. They don’t feel the need to have to pay more money.
“And when I had advised them that I had offers from other countries that were in a different currency for more money, North Africa for example, for them it was something they didn’t entertain.
“So, there’s this perception that there are all these amazing offers out there when it’s not true.”
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