Siphelele Ntshangase's agent Jazzman Mahlakgane has explained why his client opted to renew his contract with Kaizer Chiefs despite not kicking a ball this season.
Earlier this week The Glamour Boys announced they have retained the services of the Ntshangase, Philani Zulu and goalkeeper Brylon Petersen and allowed George Maluleka to leave for Mamelodi Sundowns.
READ: Chiefs retain Stash, Zulu, Petersen
"Chiefs made a decision, we could have made an opposite decision ourselves, but we went with it," Mahlakgane tells snl24.com/kickoff.
"Because I still said to you even then that Stash is one of the best midfielders in the country and Chiefs acquired and bought him, they didn't get him for free. Surely if you buy a player for R3-million you know there must be something that you saw.
"So, myself and Stash, we sat and we spoke about this thing. His position has never changed, but he will play at Kaizer Chiefs. And I still believe that he will play. He will be one of the players that at some point or the other, he's going to run that midfield, and he deserves his number 10 by the way.
READ: What Stash needs to do now at Chiefs
"So those are things that we must get out of the way, because a lot of people get to be very twisted around whether or not Stash is this, Stash is that... he is, and he will always be. And I think given a chance, he'll do well. Like any other player, he must be given a chance."
Besides Ntshangase, Zulu and Petersen, see 8 other recent contract renewals that show Chiefs mean business right now
Jazzman was asked about what Chiefs coach Ernst Middendorp once said about the player's style of play.
"We understand all that, but remember the first thing is the player must be confident that he can do this. Once the player believes in his heart of hearts that he still has what it takes to fight and find his way into the team, for me that's all I want to know," he says.
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"Because it's not my first position with Stash, I had players who were in a similar position. I mean Mshishi [Themba Zwane] was at some point in a similar position at Sundowns. He said, 'I'm not going, I will play here at Sundowns.' Today Mshishi is a maestro of Sundowns, so I'm happy that I can refer to these kinds of situations. So I'm not nervous, neither am I nervous for my player.
"I'm good, I'm very comfortable, firstly that the player is the one who wanted to do this, it's not a forced or pushed thing. He wanted to do it, he's got it. And I'm just grateful that Chiefs also took that decision. If he was not going to be able to help them, why would they sign him? What would be the only reason for them to sign a player who is not going to help them? Because you not signing a player to be nice to him.
READ: Official: Chiefs release Mido to Downs
"He must give something to the team. I believe they think he will give them something. We didn't just sign because it's Kaizer Chiefs. We signed because the boy believes that he can still play at Kaizer Chiefs, and therefore that confidence on its own is good enough for me, which is why we renewed."