"I HAD lost my place in Bafana Bafana, and to be honest it was time to move on."
This is how new Kaizer Chiefs striker Katlego Mphela answered yesterday to a question about why he left Mamelodi Sundowns - a club where he spent six of the 11 years as a footballer - to join title rivals Amakhosi.
Mphela has no winners' medal to show for his time at Chloorkop, but has plenty of scars from what seemed a broken relationship that the two parties eventually could not mend, leaving the player with no choice but to go AWOL to force an early move to Naturena.
His contract was set to run out at the end of the season after Sundowns had dragged their feet in offering him a new deal, until Mphela opted to sign a pre-contract with Chiefs to join them in July.
For Mphela to point out losing his place in the national team as one of the reasons for his departure clearly shows his frustration had reached boiling point. The forward might have made a difference in Bafana's World Cup qualifiers, and maybe even help them avoid the humiliation of their early exit in this year's African Nations Championship.
"But there's no bad blood between me and Pitso Mosimane [the Sundowns coach]. We still get along well and I understand the position that he was in. The club signed a lot of players and quality strikers like me, and there was a lot of pressure maybe to see them play.
"This [coming to Chiefs] is a new lease of life after leaving a club where I spent half my career. My aim is to do well here and get back into the Bafana team. It feels awesome to arrive while the club is at the top of the log table."
Mphela said he would help Chiefs defend their Absa Premiership title, while he chases his first silverware since 2008 when he was playing for SuperSport United.
"I am willing to work hard. As many people know, I was not playing at Sundowns and for the most part I was training on my own. The coach [Stuart Baxter] said the technical team will assess me and we will take it from there," said Mphela.
Kaizer Motaung Jnr, the club chairman's son, has announced his retirement from football with immediate effect. Motaung, 32, will become an intern at the club as he readies himself for a role as an administrator.
'It was time to move on'
"I HAD lost my place in Bafana Bafana, and to be honest it was time to move on."
This is how new Kaizer Chiefs striker Katlego Mphela answered yesterday to a question about why he left Mamelodi Sundowns - a club where he spent six of the 11 years as a footballer - to join title rivals Amakhosi.
Mphela has no winners' medal to show for his time at Chloorkop, but has plenty of scars from what seemed a broken relationship that the two parties eventually could not mend, leaving the player with no choice but to go AWOL to force an early move to Naturena.
His contract was set to run out at the end of the season after Sundowns had dragged their feet in offering him a new deal, until Mphela opted to sign a pre-contract with Chiefs to join them in July.
For Mphela to point out losing his place in the national team as one of the reasons for his departure clearly shows his frustration had reached boiling point. The forward might have made a difference in Bafana's World Cup qualifiers, and maybe even help them avoid the humiliation of their early exit in this year's African Nations Championship.
"But there's no bad blood between me and Pitso Mosimane [the Sundowns coach]. We still get along well and I understand the position that he was in. The club signed a lot of players and quality strikers like me, and there was a lot of pressure maybe to see them play.
"This [coming to Chiefs] is a new lease of life after leaving a club where I spent half my career. My aim is to do well here and get back into the Bafana team. It feels awesome to arrive while the club is at the top of the log table."
Mphela said he would help Chiefs defend their Absa Premiership title, while he chases his first silverware since 2008 when he was playing for SuperSport United.
"I am willing to work hard. As many people know, I was not playing at Sundowns and for the most part I was training on my own. The coach [Stuart Baxter] said the technical team will assess me and we will take it from there," said Mphela.
Kaizer Motaung Jnr, the club chairman's son, has announced his retirement from football with immediate effect. Motaung, 32, will become an intern at the club as he readies himself for a role as an administrator.
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