Cercle Brugge KSV technical director Luciano Murchio has explained the value which South African attacker Luke Le Roux brings to the Belgian Jupiler League side.
The Bafana Bafana midfielder was confirmed as a new signing by the Green and Black on Thursday after the termination of his contract with English Championship side Portsmouth FC. He arrives in Belgium on a two-year deal after just a season at Portsmouth, where he made 17 appearances across all competitions.
The Stellenbosch-born star joins the likes of Relebohile Mofokeng, Shandre Campbell and SK Beveren winger Kurt Abrahams as South Africans currently plying their trade in the Belgian top-flight league.
Although arriving at Pompey with international football experience with Bafana and playing top-flight league football in Sweden and the Netherlands, Le Roux still found it difficult in the English second tier. In the 17 games he featured for Portsmouth, he could not score or provide an assist.
WHAT WENT WRONG FOR LE ROUX AT PORTSMOUTH?
“It didn’t work out for Luke over the time he was here. He probably came in during difficult circumstances and could never quite get himself going,” said Portsmouth head coach John Mousinho, as per The News.
“He came in late in the window, wasn’t quite fit, and, when we did play him, by the time he got into the side, we were in that run post the first international break when we weren’t performing particularly well. That was probably a difficult thing for Luke. We couldn’t quite get him going, so we wanted to give him the opportunity to go and explore another move.”
CERCLE BRUGGE SEE THE OPPOSITE IN LUKE LE ROUX
However, Cercle Brugge are not reading much into Le Roux’s problems in England as they show trust in the 26-year-old whose qualities are explained by Murchio.
“Luke is a player with valuable experience, both as a senior international and in competitive leagues such as the Swedish Allsvenskan and the Championship,” explained Murchio on the Cercle Brugge website.
“With his speed, energy and quality in possession, he brings extra options to our midfield. He complements the profiles we already have in the squad, and we are looking forward to seeing him on the pitch in Green-Black.”
CERCLE MOVE LE ROUX’S CHANCE TO IMPRESS PITSO MOSIMANE?
After losing his Bafana Bafana place under Hugo Broos, Le Roux would be pushing to muscle his way back into the national team. But that would take some regular and impressive performances for Cercle Brugge.
He is not part of new South Africa coach Pitso Mosimane’s preliminary squad for the upcoming 2027 AFCON qualifiers against Guinea and Eritrea, as well as the international friendly match against Egypt.
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