South Africa U23 youth international Thabo Cele has opened up on his failed move to Kaizer Chiefs.
The 24-year-old was closely linked with a move to Amakhosi but ended up joining Polish side RKS Radimiak Radom.
Cele was one of the few players who impressed many during the recent Tokyo Olympics where he had seemingly also caught the eyes of Chiefs.
He confirmed “negotiations had been going smooth” and he was close to joining the Amakhosi before the club pulled out of the deal.
“I wasn’t really thinking about coming back home until there was serious interest from Kaizer Chiefs, but the negotiations fell through,” he told Thabiso Mosia on SAFM.
“I’m a fan of Chiefs and even my family supports Chiefs. So I was looking forward to it.
“I had an offer in Poland, there was interest from Portugal. I waited for the move to Chiefs to happen but it didn’t happen.
“Chiefs was an option, but I had different options and I was weighing up my options.
“When I was in Portugal weighing up my options Radimiak came back with better communication and I ended up coming here because I didn’t want to wait any further because I was becoming anxious.”
Cele explained that he doesn’t really know why the move to the Glamour Boys didn’t happen.
“I’m not really sure what happened with Chiefs. Negotiations were smooth and everything, but then things started to happen and they delayed. I don’t know what happened.
“In my mind, I was ready. I was even starting to watch their games just to see everything, the way the teams plays. I’ll say it almost happened but it didn’t happen.”
Cele is a product of the KZN Academy but moved to Portugal early on in his career. However, his contract with Cova Piedade came to an end at the end of last season and he became a free agent.
