Itumeleng Khune of Kaizer Chiefs warming up prior to the DStv Premiership match between his team and Cape Town Spurs at DHL Stadium on 25 May 2024 in Cape Town, South Africa.
Photo by Ashley Vlotman/Gallo Images
Siya sources close to the player have indicated Khune is believed to still want to play for at least one or two more seasons.
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This is after Amakhosi didn’t renew his last playing contract, which expired in June this year.
As previously reported by Soccer Laduma, Khune and Chiefs have not agreed on a new role, after the club had previously looked at bringing him into the Marketing Department, where he could have worked with Jessica Motaung.
Now, insiders both at the club and close to Khune have indicated that the former Bafana Bafana number one is currently training on his own to keep fit, with the hope of finding a team that he can join in January, or even earlier.
The insiders added that Chiefs’ talks are continuing in an attempt to convince Khune to still work with the club.
“It’s not a secret. Itu (Khune) made it clear even last season that he would still want to play and that’s why when Chiefs were offering a position outside playing at the start of the season – he declined it. Now he is on his own and training with other guys and also in the gym to keep himself fit while he looks at playing options,” said the Siya source.
“He has people who are helping him keep fit and he is still looking good. He still wants to play and if you look at his body he still has it in him and the mind is there also. He left Chiefs because they could not offer him another chance to play.”
The Siya source close to the player then went on to discuss how Khune could still have a future at Amakhosi.
“So, for now he is looking at what could happen in January or any time since he is a free agent. But the tricky part is that the talks with the club are continuing as they haven’t given up on him working with the club in sponsorship, marketing and an ambassadors role. So, anything can still happen for him at the club.
“That door is not completely closed. The club hasn’t given up on him and that’s why talks are still going on. The club still wants to keep their promise that they will honour him as a club legend by working with him and that’s why the talks are still ongoing and something could come up soon,” the source added.
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The Siya crew then learned from a second insider that Khune is prepared to even take a lower salary compared to what he was earning at Chiefs just to play for one or two more seasons.
“It’s not about money at this point. It’s about his passion for the game. He just wants to play and make himself happy even of it’s for a lower salary than what he is used to. So people should not think it’s about money. It’s about the love for the game and feeling that he can still contribute to the game as a player at the highest level. That’s why he wants to continue playing,” the second Siya source stated.
Sekhukhune United were one of the clubs reportedly interested in the 37-year-old, but nothing came out of it.
Soccer Laduma contacted Chiefs for comment, but there was no response at the time of publishing this article.
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