Former Kaizer Chiefs defender Tsepo Masilela has for the first time revealed the agonizing story of a deal to join Leicester City collapsing in the final stage before he joined Amakhosi.
Masilela was still at his peak after he joined the Glamour Boys from Maccabi Haifa in 2012, after he was assembled as one of the big stars who returned from Europe still at their best such as Siboniso Gaxa and Bernard Parker.
The Witbank native joined Chiefs with the wealth of experience after regularly featuring in the UEFA Champions League and was a regular at Bafana after also making the 2010 FIFA World Cup squad.
READ | Benni rules himself out of the Chiefs job?
The Amakhosi project under Stuart Baxter from 2012 to 2015 was very successful after he won two league titles, one MTN8 and one Nedbank Cup trophies, with Masilela and other stars such as Siphiwe Tshabalala and Reneilwe Letsholonyane, who were also regularly with Bafana playing a pivotal role.
Masilela has revealed that actually he was meant to join Leicester City in 2012 after the Foxes agreed a deal with his club at the time Maccabi Haifa and that he had also agreed personal terms and had already joined the team in their pre-season camp.
"When I left Israel, I was meant to join Leicester City. After the late owner took over, Sven-Goran Eriksson was the coach and they do the deal, it's a loan with an option to buy, so they do the team to team deal," Masilela revealed on 947's MSW.
"Maccabi Haifa says 'Okay, we gonna let him go for a season loan and if you guys are happy, you can buy', personal terms agreed. I packed everything. It was off-season, I came home and went back to Israel while they were still negotiating.
"Leicester City by then were in pre-season camp in Sweden, I packed my bags, shook hands with the coach, said goodbyes to my teammates in Israel, took my flight to Sweden. But you know the deal is subject to medicals. I arrived at Sweden, I met the coach Sven-Goran Eriksson. Next day, medicals, it took the whole day. Next day the coach calls me, I get to the coach's room. He says, 'Unfortunately, the medical team they are saying we can't do this deal… they are not happy with your knee'. That day I was shattered, it was one of the worst days in my career," he recollected.
After campaigning in the English Championship, Leicester got promoted in 2014 for the first time in a decade and two years later shocked the football world after winning the Premier League title, as they became the first first-time winners of the competition since 1978.
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