HIGH TRANSFER DEMAND BLOCKED FELIX’S CHIEFS MOVE – ‘CHACKLAS’

MBABANE – Former Eswatini international winger Abel ‘Chacklas’ Shongwe has revealed how high transfer demands proved the stumbling block in Felix Badenhorst’s proposed move to South Africa’s soccer giants Kaizer Chiefs and Chippa United two seasons ago.

Shongwe, a celebrated former Chiefs’ winger who is listed as one of the team’s legends at the Soweto glamour giants, confirmed in an interview with this publication that Badenhorst was close to joining Chiefs as personal terms had already been agreed with the player.

“I spoke to Kaizer Chiefs and they were interested in Felix but the stumbling block at the end was the transfer fee demanded by his club in Eswatini at the time, Mbabane Swallows. I also managed to strike a similar deal for the player with Chippa United at Port Elizabeth (PE) but the deal fell through once again because Swallows were demanding a lot of money for the transfer.

I was really disappointed because Felix is a good player who does not deserve to be playing in the First Division. I still keep in touch with him at Mbombela United where he is now playing but he is too good a player to be playing in that division. He should be playing for Kaizer Chiefs now because he has the talent to make it there but unfortunately, Chiefs could not agree terms with his team in Eswatini and they pulled out of the deal,” Shongwe said, bitterly.

For the record, Badenhorst is close to his third season with Mbombela where he has established himself as one of their key players and even earning the captaincy armband.  He joined the Nelspruit-based side from Swallows.

Shongwe, however, promised that he would not rest until a player from this country got the chance to play for the big clubs in South Africa. He said Eswatini has a lot of talent that deserved proper recognition especially in the neighbouring country.

“My dream is to see lot of players from my home country earning professional contracts in South Africa for the big clubs. It is unfortunate that the coronavirus pandemic is stalling all football activities because I want to travel home to watch my home players more regularly to spot those that have the talent to make it here. When the situation about the virus has normalised, I will make time to watch my home players frequently,” he said.

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