Contract negotiations between Kaizer Chiefs and Njabulo Blom’s high-profile agent, Rob Moore, are shrouded in mystery. The impasse has created speculation around the player asking for too much or the team exploiting him
When Kaizer Chiefs promoted Njabulo Blom to the senior team more than three years ago under the then-coach Ernst Middendorp, no one at the club would have predicted a contract dispute this soon.
Blom is their product through and through, and symbolised a resurgence of the development structures at Naturena. Now that the utility player, via his agent Rob Moore, is asking for a salary bump, there’s a risk it could be time to leave the nest given the profile of his representative, a man who has brokered major deals in Europe.
Moore looked after Benni McCarthy and Steven Pienaar at the height of their careers, but never left even when they retired. Both now have UEFA Pro Licenses, with McCarthy recently joining the Manchester United technical team and Pienaar being a youth coach at Ajax Amsterdam and soon likely to look for a senior coaching job himself.
With this context, you wouldn’t have expected Moore to say yes to the first offer Chiefs put on the table during talks over a new contract. No figures have been made public and when asked on Metro FM what percentage increase of the new package they were looking for, the agent was reluctant to disclose. Moore was only willing to reiterate that Amakhosi had described their demands as “too high”.
The lack of information of the amount makes it impossible to conclude who is right and who is wrong, but what is known is that clubs all over the world have in the past been accused of being a tad stingy when it comes to paying their academy products what they believe they are worth.
So, spare a thought for Blom. He might feel isolated because while his agent is acting on his behalf, at times that might not necessarily be in the best interest of the player. Blom knows the Chiefs culture, having been there since his teenage years and into adulthood – he has seen that no player holds the club to ransom.
The chances of him signing a pre-contract in January and leaving Amakhosi a free agent at the end of the season won’t win him a lot of friends at Naturena, though one hopes all parties involved can be professional enough not to freeze the kid out.
Blom’s situation has been poorly handled for the most part, and perhaps this calls for more transparency in the Premier Soccer League regarding contracts – we don’t want confidential details, just information that will pour cold water on speculation.
Depending on what you have read, Blom is either a disruptive individual who is trying to milk Chiefs, or the club is an entity that is trying to exploit him. It’s ‘he said, she said’… Moore says the club is undervaluing his client, while coach Arthur Zwane will not talk about the contract saga and has claimed Blom is being left out of the team because he is not at his best.
The 22-year-old featured in 30 games across all competitions last season, so being a bit part player in this campaign so far only serves to indicate there’s a lot more going on behind the scenes, which is hurting Blom’s chances of regular game time and a possible Bafana Bafana squad selection.
Moore, based on principle, is correct to argue that Blom has earned an improved contract given his trajectory in the three years that has been playing for the senior team. Whether the figures that have been requested are fair remains open to discussion because neither the agent nor the club will come out publicly regarding how much that is.
Chiefs may feel they are also within their rights to adjust the player’s terms to their own salary scale as they, more than anyone outside, know his progress and perhaps even his potential… they wouldn’t want to lose him for free.
Pressed for comment, Zwane said he would leave such matters to management as his job is to coach. Maybe he could take charge by restoring Blom back in his line-up as evidence that he is picking the team on merit and not the noise behind the scenes.
