The line of requests made by Nasreddine Nabi at Kaizer Chiefs ahead of next season have left the club’s decision makers scratching their heads for solutions in the goalkeeping department.
Nabi has made a request for a new goalkeeper to be brought in.
This situation will largely affect Fiacre Ntwari with the Rwandan to create foreign space by moving out.
Nabi only wants to keep Congolese winger Glody Makabi Lilepo and Inacio Miguel (Angolan Portuguese) from the five foreign players that he closed off the season with.
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Mozambican defender Edmilson Dove is leaving at the end of June, while Venezuelan midfielder Edson Castillo has suddenly found himself sitting on the fence after a difficult season under Nabi.
With regards to the goalkeeping department, Chiefs had Ntwari, Bruce Bvuma, and Brandon Petersen all getting minutes last season.
Bvuma and Petersen will stay, but the whip will affect Ntwari, who cannot remain at the club as a non-first choice considering that his stay coming on a foreign player ticket.
Nabi needs the foreign space for the recruits that he has identified.
Ntwari failed to establish himself as first choice last season, conceding 11 in seven appearances and hasn’t played for the past seven months.
This has left all fingers pointing in his direction as the head coach seeks to bring in a keeper of his choice.
However, the hurdle is that Ntwari signed a four-year deal with an option when he joined from TS Galaxy during last year’s off-season.
He has three years remaining on his contract plus the optional year.
Chiefs need to find a club willing to pay a transfer fee for Ntwari or move him out on loan.
The worst-case scenario will be termination, but that will be costly for the club considering the length of the remainder of the contract and the fact that they paid a transfer fee just a year ago.
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This is the equation that the Soweto giants need to find a solution to before another keeper can be brought in.
Several foreign keepers have been linked with moves to Chiefs and include Djigui Diarra of Young Africans.
Photo: Lefty Shivambu/Gallo Images
