Arthur Zwane hints Kaizer Chiefs won’t go big in January transfer window

Kaizer Chiefs coach Arthur Zwane has strongly suggested the club will not delve into the market extensively in the January transfer window.

Amakhosi have been inconsistent in the first half of the 2022-23 season, suffering the disappointment of bowing out of the MTN8 semifinals at Moses Mabhida Stadium on Sunday with a 0-0 second leg draw that saw Usuthu progress on away goals after the first leg ended 1-1.

Chiefs face another big fixture in Saturday’s DStv Premiership Soweto derby at FNB Stadium against Jose Riveiro’s increasingly slick Orlando Pirates, who dispatched trophy machines Mamelodi Sundowns in the other MTN8 semifinal.

Zwane has overseen a rebuilding phase that saw a number of ageing, big-name stars cleared out at the start of the campaign. The club brought in 13 players signed or promoted from their youth structures.

The overall quality of the signings has raised question marks as a younger, fresher-looking Amakhosi have strived to bring back expressive football to the club but battled for consistency and are in fifth place in the DStv Premiership. A place in a cup final would have provided a big vote of confidence for the direction taken.

Zwane was asked what the strategy might be in the January transfer window.

“Obviously we will do the profiling. We have players who have been doing well. And we’re not going to focus on the negatives, we’ll focus on the positives,” the coach said.

“At one stage we had an opportunity two weeks back where we created a lot of chances and did not take them [in a 2-1 defeat to Chippa United in Durban]. Had we got maximum points on that night, it was going to be a different ball game — we were going to be No 1.

“But this is a journey. The league is a race, and we’re running our own race until the last game. That’s when we have to do introspection, look at ourselves, where to improve and what to do.

“But obviously if there is a player who we think is good enough to come and play for Kaizer Chiefs and he’s available, we will definitely bring him on board just to beef up here and there.

“At the moment the only thing we can do is a proper profiling, rather than rush into things — because we want to give the players who are part of the team now the opportunity to showcase their talent and we’ll take it from there.”

Chiefs’ match against Pirates is Amakhosi’s last fixture before the two-month Fifa international break for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar (November 20 to December 18).

Bucs’ last game is the MTN8 final against AmaZulu at Moses Mabhida on November 5.