Amakhosi coach Baxter was reportedly keen to lure the 24-year-old to Naturena having handed him his Bafana debut
Former South Africa youth international Thabo Cele’s agent Helio Martins has opened up about what transpired after Kaizer Chiefs registered their interest in the player.
The Soweto giants were credited with an interest in the central midfielder after he impressed at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games – featuring in all of the team’s three matches two months ago.
Cele became a free agent prior to the global tournament after he parted ways with Portuguese second division club Cova da Piedade at the end of the 2020/21 season.
Chiefs were joined by RKS Radomiak in the race for the Durban-born player’s signature and the Polish side has since signed Cele.
Martins has now disclosed that Chiefs did not take the discussion further to bring the player to Naturena.
“The Kaizer Chiefs proposal did not advance any further,” Martins told Soccer Laduma.
“And so, the future will now be through Europe. Radomiak’s desire and the club’s project convinced the player.”
Radomiak won the Polish second division title in June this year and they earned a promotion to the country’s top-flight, Ekstraklasa for the first time in 36 years.
Martins pointed out that his client will look to catch the eye of the South Africa senior national team selectors and earn a recall to the Bafana Bafana squad.
“He now will work to be called up to his country’s national team again, that is his main objective,” he concluded.
Cele was handed his Bafana debut against Botswana in July 2017 by current Chiefs head coach Stuart Baxter, who was in charge of South Africa at the time.
The diminutive player has been plying his trade in Europe since 2016 when he signed for Portuguese third division side Real Sport Club from the KwaZulu-Natal Academy.
A year later, Portuguese giants, Benfica signed the former South Africa under-20 international before returning to Real on loan.
Cele, who represented South Africa at the 2017 Fifa Under-20 World Cup finals in South Korea, signed for Cova da Piedade in 2018.
Source: Source: Goal
