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Cape Town - Kaizer Chiefs football manager Bobby Motaung on Tuesday said the club is content with their player recruitment as the transfer window came to an end.
The Soweto giants confirmed all their player acquisitions alongside a host of departures as head coach Ernst Middendorp finalised his playing squad for the 2019/2020 campaign.
"You can never say you are done in this game," Motaung said at the conclusion of the transfer window. "This is a journey. For now, we have what we need in terms of our strategy going forward. We are on track and now our focus is on rolling up our sleeves and work hard to achieve our objectives."
"The market is not a bed of roses, we go into the market knowing there will always be challenges but I am happy we found the missing pieces to the puzzle. We had to make changes as part of resolving the challenges we faced last season but also to plan for the continuous improvement of the team."
Chiefs confirmed the departures of 16 players including loan deals for youngsters to gain valuable senior experience with a view to make their mark back in the Chiefs first team.
"Look, at times players come here at the back of good performances and highly recommended. However, with all intents and purposes, some players fail to make the expected grade and some with their immense talent can't adapt to our demanding set-up. Pressure comes in different forms, it can be competition or simply the overwhelming pressure that comes with the jersey and the badge."
Out: Yusuf Bunting, Mario Booysen, Ryan Moon, Brylon Petersen, Khotso Malope, Teenage Radebe, Gustavo Paez, Hendrick Ekstein, Bhongolethu Jayiya, Virgil Vries, Andriamirado 'Dax' Andrianarimanana, Emmanuel Letlotlo and Letlhogonolo Mirwa.
"We had to look at the youngsters that we brought up from the Academy," Motaung added. "These youngsters still need to pick up some experience by gaining regular game time. We identified the three promising youngsters and thought they will mature with the opportunity of going on loan to Swallows in the NFD. We will monitor their performance and hopefully they’ll come back to feature for us."
Loan: Given Thibedi, Itumeleng Shopane and Ayanda Rorwana.
"In terms of the new arrivals, we did our planning well in advance before the previous season came to an end. "I can say all the negotiations went very well and finally we welcomed the five players we needed this season.
In: Lazalous Kambole (midfielder, Zambia); Samir Nurkovic (striker, Serbia); James Kotei (midfielder, Ghana), Kearyn Baccus (midfielder, Australia) and Yagan Sasman (fullback, Cape Town)
"We also look into the future, hence we promoted youngsters from the MDC Team, Twala and already we had mid-season promoted Njabulo Blom (fullback), Bontle Molefe (goalkeeper) and Happy Mashiane (left-back)," he says.
Promoted: Sizwe Twala (striker, Chiefs Academy)
"Things are looking great. It is a work in progress though. It's still early days but very important to have a good start. Credit must go to our supporters for always keeping us in check. We are here to serve this badge and the supporters. We are grateful the supporters are voting positively by attending the matches in huge numbers."
Amakhosi sit atop the Absa Premiership standings with 10 points from four games with Motaung name-checking key players who have returned from injury who have made an influential contribution to their positive start to the season.
"We must also note some of our players returned fter struggling with injuries last season, such as Lebo Manyama and Mulomowandau Mathoho and are already showing fine form at the start of the season.
"Remember there is Itumeleng Khune as well who was injured for the better part of last season. He is declared fit to play now which creates good competition in the goalkeeping area."
Compiled by Baden Gillion
