Lewis happy to be at Chiefs

The 23-year-old striker, who joined Amakhosi from Ajax Cape Town last week, made an immediate impact when he was introduced to the local media at Chiefs' headquarters in Naturena on Monday.

He pulled no punches in swearing his loyalty to his new employers, and had a dig at his former coach Foppe de Haan, of Ajax.

"We fell out over the way I celebrated when I scored a goal. It was a silly mistake on my part. I was wrong. I was too emotional. I said sorry, but we then had a personality clash and I wanted out. I tried to patch it up with the coach [De Haan], but it was in my interest to move on," he said.

Lewis, who has played twice for Bafana Bafana, said his agent Rob Moore had tried to do a deal for him with Vasco da Gama.

"It was complicated in that Vasco had to sell Sibusiso Zuma to finance the deal. I am so glad the deal fell through. It is a dream come true signing for Chiefs," he said.

Lewis is on a six-month loan, which will be made permanent if the striker shines at Chiefs.

"I believe in myself and aim to make this move permanent. I had my problems in the past, but that is over. It is amazing being a Chiefs player, rubbing shoulders with some of the best players in the country."

Born in Florida, west of Johannesburg, Lewis said he was fighting fit and hoped to make his Chiefs debut against AmaZulu in an Absa Premiership clash to be played at the FNB Stadium on Wednesday night.

"I am ready and there is nothing I want more than to pull on that Chiefs shirt and start playing regularly again."

Lewis left Ajax three years ago to play for Ajax Amsterdam in Holland.

"I came back to Cape Town because of injuries and the fact I was not getting enough game time.

"It was a tough time for me and now I have a chance to play for the biggest and best club in the PSL. I intend making the most of this opportunity," he said.

Meanwhile, Chiefs' manager Bobby Motaung confirmed that his star left wing Siphiwe Tshabalala will leave on Monday night for a trial at English Championship outfit Nottingham Forest.

"There is no offer on the table for Shabba. It is not even a trial. Forest contacted us and said they wanted to have a look at him," said Motaung.

"There has been a lot of speculation over him. Chiefs will never stand in any player's way, but the bottom line is we do not want to sell him," he said.

"We want to win trophies and cannot do that by selling our best players, but at the same time we agreed to this invite, as we do not want unsettled players in the run-in to the league.

"He goes to Forest with our blessing. If we get an offer we will deal with it."

Motaung said Chiefs had not thought of a transfer price.

"First we have to get an offer and take it from there, but we believe it was only fair to allow Shabba to try his luck at Forest.

"However, Shabba is an established international and I do not see why they need to have a look at him."

Chiefs' coach Vladimir Vermezovic, who is expecting a tough time from AmaZulu, said Tshabalala, who caught the eye for Bafana at last year's World Cup finals, deserved his break.

"He goes with my blessing and I wish him success."