With Kaizer Chiefs reportedly closing in on the signing of France-based striker Makabi Glody Lilepo, KickOff lifts the lid on what the Congolese would have to offer to the side's blunt frontline.
Chiefs are understood to be progressing well in talks with Valenciennes, who have put a price tag of €500 000 (R9,6 million) for the services of Lilepo, who has also attracted interest from a Tunisian club and another side in the Middle East, as per French journalist Sebastien Denis.
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This website analyses three key aspects around the 27-year-old...
Level
Lilepo currently play in the third tier of French football after Valenciennes were relegated for the second time in 2023/24.
However, her joined them at the beginning of that campaign while they were still in Ligue 2 as he was signed from Sudanese giants Al Hilal, where he scored five goals in 10 matches.
The 27-year-old, who built his reputation as a winger, made his name at AS Vita Club, particularly in his second spell, where he landed a move to Al Hilal in August 2022 after a two-year stay at the Congolese giants.
Lilepo came through the youth ranks at AS Vita and just after his promotion as a 19-year-old was loaned out to Mbabane Swallows for a season before he joined home club FC Renaissance and got recognition from Vita Club again in 2020.
The DRC forward currently has four goals in 14 games for Valenciennes, all scored in the Coupe de France.
National team
Lilepo has been on the fringes of the DR Congo squad, first featuring in 2020 in the CHAN tournament.
He has five caps under his name, with four coming in the CHAN.
However, the versatile marksman has been making the squad in the previous Africa Cup of Nations and 2026 World Cup qualifiers, though did not get minutes.
Attributes
After returning much more matured at Vita Club in 2020, Congolese publication Foot DRC remarked as follows:
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"With the ball at his feet, he does not hesitate to take responsibility whether on set-pieces or penalties," the publication raved.
"His composure makes him confident and his size often puts him in a dribbling position on a third of his actions. He then infuriates his defenders with his swaying dribbles and his biting accelerations," as translated from French.