TS Galaxy chairman Tim Sukazi has explained why he went for veteran midfielder Sibusiso Vilakazi.
Vilakazi’s move to Galaxy was one of the unexpected and major moves in the current transfer window period. ‘Villa’ spent the past six seasons at Mamelodi Sundowns, winning five successive Premiership titles.
The 32-year-old has now moved on to a less fancied Galaxy side that survived relegation on the last day of last season. He joins fellow experienced players such as Xoli Mlambo and Vuyo Mere.
Speaking to the media during the official unveiling of the squad in KwaMhlanga, Sukazi insists the Bafana Bafana player is expected to share his wealth of experience and leadership on and off the field as he begins life at Mpumalanga side TS Galaxy.
“His leadership in the first instance. More especially football leadership and holistically on and off the field.,” explained Sukazi.
“Villa is not just a good player, but I think he is a very good soldier to have. With experience at TS Galaxy, we have learnt that if you bring the right kind of mentality within the group, it influences the rest and it shifts the thumb. A case in point was our signing of Vuyo Mere during a very difficult time in January. We had 13 points, and we needed 17 points to escape the axe.
“One of the things we did, for many it appeared to be odd, we brought Mere. We were clear that we don’t expect him to do much on the pitch but to lead. So, Villa has a lot of that. He is a good fellow. He has done fantastically well by the game, but he wants to be here,” he said.
“He sees value in this club, and he is highly committed. I think he will contribute a lot going forward.”
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