Who will be Chiefs' number 1?

Kaizer Chiefs legend Brian Baloyi has sounded rather sceptical about new goalkeeper Fiecre Ntwari, insisting all four of Amakhosi keepers had equal chance to claim the No.1 jersey, albeit he backs less-fancied 21-year-old Bontle Molefe.

The 24-year-old Ntwari, who is Rwanda's No1, joined Chiefs from TS Galaxy off the back of a decent first season in the PSL. Ntwari faces stiff competition from Brandon Petersen, Bruce Bvuma and Molefe, who’ve all been hard at work under the watchful eye of new goalkeeper coach Ilyes Mzoughi in Türkiye, where Amakhosi are holding a preseason camp.

“He [Ntwari] is a good keeper but I’ve always maintained that to play for Chiefs you need a big heart. I am hoping Chiefs have done proper research on him because being good at Galaxy doesn’t mean you’ll be good at Chiefs. Chiefs are a different ball game and the pressure there is too much,” Baloyi told Sowetan.

“Only time will tell. I have seen him playing for his country, Rwanda, he’s really a decent keeper. But I can’t put my head on the block and say he’s a good signing for Chiefs because Chiefs have made too many mistakes in the past with signings. Let’s see if he will be better than what we [as Chiefs] have.”

The legendary Amakhosi keeper is also vouching for Molefe, saying history could repeat itself if he ends up as the first-choice. “Right now, anyone of the four can claim the No 1 jersey, even Bontle...I look at him, especially with the new goalkeeper coach, as someone who can step up.

“He's in a situation I was in when I was young, where after two seasons when I signed for Chiefs, there was a South African international goalkeeper [Steve Crawley] and [Congolese Eshele] Botende but I managed to challenge them to be No1.

“He [Molefe] has learnt from Itu [Itumeleng Khune] and this could be his breakthrough season. It has happened a lot at Chiefs that they pay a lot of money to sign a new goalkeeper only for a young keeper to step up... it happened with me when they had signed Steve Crawley.”

Baloyi didn’t hide the fact that he would have wanted to see Khune continuing at Chiefs, saying he felt Mzoughi would have helped him regain his form. Amakhosi did not renew Khune’s contract when it expired in June, despite him saying he still wanted to play.

“I think the new goalkeeper coach [Mzoughi] would have reinvented Itu. So, for me, the club missed the opportunity. Now it’s up to him to decide if he retires or he goes elsewhere,” said Baloyi..

Ntwari's record at Galaxy:

Played 24 games and kept nine clean sheets, conceding 23 times in all competitions last season.