Kaizer Chiefs coach Giovanni Solinas has said he cannot confirm reports of veteran star Siphiwe Tshabalala’s move to a Turkish Super Lig club Erzurumspor.

Solinas did say that currently Tshabalala is not in Turkey.

Reports have been that Tshabalala will sign with Erzurumspor soon.

Solinas said Tshabalala has been part of his training sessions this week as Chiefs have prepared for Sunday’s first leg of their MTN8 semifinal against SuperSport United at Lucas Moripe Stadium.

“I don’t speak about the transfer of players‚” Solinas said on Thursday.

“I speak about the players who I have in the squad.

“Tshabalala was training with my team this morning‚ as normal. Because when they are in Kaizer Chiefs‚ I coach these players – no problem.

“But I can’t speak about the transfer of players.”

The origin of some reports of the Tshabalala deal appear untrustworthy.

Some reports in South Africa have quoted a website purporting to represent Erzurumspor saying that Tshabalala has agreed in principle to sign a deal with the club‚ which he will travel to Turkey to do in two days.

However that report was in fact dated July 20.

More baffling is that there appear to be two websites purporting to represent BB Erzurumspor.

One‚ bberzurumspor.com‚ appears to be the official site as it is linked to from Wikipedia.com. It makes no mention of the Tshabalala transfer.

The report of the deal appears on erzurumspor.net.

No mention is made of a deal to sign Tshabalala on Erzurumspor’s official Twitter page.

Solinas said Tshabalala is a crucial player to his plans.

“For me Tshabalala is a very good player. He has made history with Kaizer Chiefs.

“And I have a lot of respect for this player. But I can’t talk about transfers.”

Tshabalala’s agent‚ Jazzman Mahlakgane‚ who has said in reports that he has no knowledge of the deal‚ could not be reached for comment or clarification.