Top-rated striker slipping away away, defender drama

Kaizer Chiefs’ pursuit of Nigeria’s Etiosa Ighodaro remains in muddy waters as the player continues to weigh up his options.

“There’s been a lot of talk about Ighodaro joining Chiefs, but the reports suggesting he has signed are inaccurate,” an insider revealed. “He is still assessing his options both locally and abroad. Nothing has been concluded.

AmaKhosi head coach Nasreddine Nabi has been vocal about his transfer demands from the club.

“I wouldn’t be honest if say that I’m gonna stay if the club doesn’t allow me to get all the tools to succeed next season because they have promised, and myself, I have promised the fans that I want to build a successful team that will compete in every competition to win trophies,” Nabi told SuperSportafter winning the Nedbank Cup final, ending Kaizer Chiefs’ ten-year trophy drought.

“That’s the condition for me to stay [at Chiefs] because I don’t feel that I want to go through what I went through this season.”

Club legend disapproves

Kaizer Chiefs have won one of their five pre-season fixtures, raising alarm bells from fans to club legends. The latter relates to Tsepo Masilela, who has been vocal about his displeasure in left-back Nkhanyiso Shinga.

“To be honest, when I look at Shinga, interesting player, but defensively, there’s been question marks, in my opinion,” he said. “Even the second goal (conceded against Twente), there’s a couple of times (even) in the previous games, he got beaten in one-v-one situations.”

“Your primary job as a defender is to win those duels, to be on top of the winger – that’s how you gain confidence. Listen, he’s comfortable on the ball, that we can’t argue.”

“But again, him inverting most of the time, I found it that it was dragging (Makabi) Lilepo to receive the ball too deep, more like a left-back. I couldn’t understand what’s the idea of him inverting that much.”