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Chiefs reject former Bafana star midfielder Mokotjo
The 31-year-old former Brentford midfielder was reportedly offered to Amakhosi.
Kamohelo Mokotjo with FC Twente during a preseason friendly match against Bon Boys Sportpark De Greune in June. Kaizer Chiefs have turned down the opportunity to sign the former Bafana star. (Photo: Jeroen Meuwsen/BSR Agency/Getty Images)
Kamohelo Mokotjo will not be fulfilling his dream of playing for Kaizer Chiefs anytime soon if recent reports are anything to go by.
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The 31-year-old former Brentford midfielder was reportedly offered to Amakhosi after his contract at US side FC Cincinnati expired in November.
Mokotjo was seen as a perfect replacement for Njabulo Blom who left Chiefs for St Louis FC in the US recently.
It has, however, emerged that Amakhosi are not keen to sign the former Bafana Bafana midfielder.
In an interview with SABC’s Metro FM in August, Mokotjo expressed his wish to play for the Naturena side before hanging up his boots.
“Money is important, but it is not the most important thing,” said Mokotjo who reportedly earned around R15-million a year in Major League Soccer.
“What I want to do is, if the opportunity presents itself, I want to go where there’s a winning mentality. I want to enjoy my football and my home country.”
But this week, SABC Sport reported that Amakhosi would not be signing Mokotjo probably because of his advanced age.
The report states that Chiefs have set out to decrease the average age in their squad as they look to build for the future.
Under Arthur Zwane, Amakhosi discarded a number of players who were over 30 in the form of the likes of Ramahlwe Mphahlele, Daniel Cardoso and Kgotso Moleko.
Another issue that could have turned Amakhosi off Mokotjo is his salary expectations which would unsettle their current squad if they were offered.
Chiefs recently got into a bitter fight with Blom when he demanded an improved offer when he was negotiating for a renewal.
The situation got so bitter that Blom’s agent went on national radio to express his disappointment at how the club were offering ‘peanuts’.
And having had to let go of Blom because they could not give him a big salary, taking on Mokotjo on a big offer would definitely send the wrong message to the rest of the squad, especially the young players.
