Kaizer Chiefs Sporting Director Kaizer Motaung Jr has broken his silence on the club’s interest in signing Asanele Velebayi and Fawaaz Basadien.
Chiefs, under the guidance of new coach Nasreddine Nabi, have approached Cape Town Spurs and Stellenbosch FC for the services of Velebayi and Basadien, respectively.
‘Amakhosi’ have faced an uphill battle to finalise both deals as they’re deadlocked with both teams over transfer fees. Velebayi was one of the exciting young players in CT Spurs’ colours in the Betway Premiership last season.
The 21-year-old featured in 24 matches across all competitions with ‘The Urban Warriors’. He scored one goal and provided one assist in a season where his club was relegated to the Motsepe Foundation Championship.
CT Spurs spent one season in the SA’s top-flight after gaining promotion through the PSL Promotional/Relegation playoffs at the start of the 2023/24 campaign.
Meanwhile, Fawaaz Basadien has been one of the outstanding performers for ‘The Stellies’ team that won the inaugural Carling Knockout Cup last season.
The talented left-back also helped Stellenbosch to finish third on the league table behind Mamelodi Sundowns and Orlando Pirates.
Basadien made 35 appearances in all competitions last season, scoring one goal and providing six assists.
WHAT DID KAIZER JR SAY ABOUT KAIZER CHIEFS’ INTEREST IN VELEBAYI AND BASADIEN?
With the transfer window closing in the coming weeks, Motaung says the deals have to make business sense for them to happen.
“Velebayi, when we broke down our recruits, he fitted into that young prospect. I think being at a team like Spurs, in his breakthrough season; I think he played about 13 games. He has a lot of potential and it was great to see him in the [2024] COSAFA [Cup] team and got a chance to express himself,” Motaung said on Radio 2000.
“But again, we did make an official offer to Cape Town Spurs; we had engagements with them, and of course, Spurs price their players the way they see fit. It has to make sense on both ends.
“One thing we also wanna put out there is that we never spoke to the player and his parents; that’s a misconception because we always pride ourselves on being professional.
“It just needs to make business sense. We see the potential [of Velebayi], and we would definitely love to have the player join us.”
‘BASADIEN HAS BEEN ON OUR RADAR FOR A COUPLE OF SEASONS’-MOTAUNG JR
“With Basadien, we are very transparent because we’ve always had good positive relations with Stellenbosch. Basadien has been on our radar for couple of seasons now, I think sometimes it’s just an issue of timing whether things happen at the right time or not.
“It’s also tough to speak about players who belongs to other clubs, it’s not professional to do that, we could be in the media talking about different candidates and that kind of thing causes destabilisation in other teams.
“We’re very respectful to our opponents; yes, we can’t run away from being linked with certain players. And a lot of the time, some of the players that are linked to us aren’t true.
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