VILAKAZI GETS HIS BIG MOVE and the South African transfer window finally gets a deal worth shouting about

NOT JUST A CLEVER BOY: Sibusiso Vilakazi finally secured his big move

"Bidvest Wits FC are pleased to announce that they have reached agreement with Mamelodi Sundowns for the transfer of Sibusiso Vilakazi to Mamelodi Sundowns for an undisclosed transfer fee as well as the transfers of Cuthbert Malajila and Mogakolodi Ngele to Bidvest Wits FC."

And there it is, the announcement we've been waiting for throughout another dodgy South African transfer window, another bleak mid-winter for our game.

Amid the usual chaos of free signings and false rumours comes the three-man deal I predicted weeks ago: Sibusiso Vilakazi, for so long South Africa’s premier midfielder, has gone to champions Mamelodi Sundowns just as they approach serious heights in the Africa (though he's cup tied, and won't be part of that).

And in return, the selling club Bidvest Wits get two quality KaboYellow players: proven Zimbabwean goal-scorer Cuthbert Malajila and  Botswana’s lively Mogakolodi Ngele. Three international players, three exciting moves.

Amid the unseemly scramble for free agents and cheap discards, I was clinging to Bernard Morrison to provide the boost the PSL needs, his often delayed R3m deal from AS Vita was a shining beacon as Kaizer Chiefs, Chippa United and Baroka FC flew in flocks of freebies.

Even worse, Orlando Pirates cast a bleak shadow over the integrity of our game when they signed Justice Chabalala, Sello Japhta and Ayanda Nkosi from Free State Stars along with their assistant manager Bradley Carnell.

Pirates, run by ageless PSL chairman, Irvin Khoza, raided Bethlehem and had all three players signed up less than 24 hours after the ANC’s MEC for education in Gauteng Panyaza Lesufi had announced he was going to buy Ea Lla Koto in his frantic bid to get a team not called Moroka Swallows back in to the top flight.

History shows the move never happened. The R55m from “a consortium of fans” was pie in the sky for both Swallows and Stars. Khoza pretended he didn’t know much about the deal but French boss Denis Lavagne must now resume pre-season training without his assistant and three of his top players.

That raid by the Pirates left me all at sea, a bit like their apparently free sale to Chippa United of three top South African youngsters Menzi Masuku, Thembinkosi Lorch and Maselaelo Seanego. Absolute madness.

We had Cape Town City scrambling around for “another 10 players”, Chippa and promoted pair Baroka and Highlands Park naming whole teams of free signings and SuperSport United drafting three free Kaizer Chiefs rejects. Utter chaos, not a confirmed transfer fee in sight.

But Sunday’s transfers between the Clever Boys and Masandawana have swept away my cynicism.

While Chiefs continue their search for ANYBODY from Chicken Inn to Mozambique to replace the 20 players kicked out by Bobby Motaung after the end of last season, Pitso Mosimane and Gavin Hunt, the nation’s two top coaches, have been shrewd and worked hard for their men, like two European masters playing chess.

Vilakazi, a former PSL player of the year, has wanted a move for two years. Still just 26, the Soweto-born star has played 21 times for Bafana Bafana, scoring four. The move to Tshwane could be just the rebirth required for one of South Africa’s top talents, playing next to Keagan Dolly, Leonard Castro and Khama Billiat will bring out the best in him after two quiet seasons.

PROVEN GOAL-SCORER: Cuthbert Malajila

Alternatively Cuthbert Lifasi Malajila, 30, over-shadowed by the CBD in Pretoria, will get the opportunity to strike alongside James Keene and kick-start his goal-scoring career which featured 8 goals in 17 games for Zimbabwe.

And Botswana’s Ngele, 25, so impressive at Platinum Stars, will get a regular start under Gavin Hunt as he builds on 15 games and two goals for Botswana.

With Sundowns winning in Algeria and Egypt during the off-season, Pitso Mosimane’s men can only get stronger, while Wits, second last season, will be up there again, especially with Darren Keete now signed on a free from Belgium to fight for the goalkeeper’s jersey with the impressive Moeneeb Josephs.

There’s still plenty of time before the new season - the PSL won’t even kick off until after the Olympics, though we still await the full fixture list, a month later than normal - so Chiefs and Cape Town City could still surprise us with some quality signings.

Like crowd figures, South African transfer fees are carefully guarded secrets. It's hard to assess who has done the best business in a nation where the PSL executive are happy to sell top flight clubs for less than their annual bonus.

But from where I stand, Masandawana, the Clever Boys and SuperSport United are patiently building title-threatening squads while the others fiddle among the discards. 

And for cashless, ripped apart Free State Stars, how can anything other than relegation loom? The White Sangoma has spoken.

The South African transfer window: is it open or is it broken?

Forgotten man: Tenda Ndoro at Orlando Pirates

THE official PSL account on twitter announced it proudly at exactly 8am this morning: “The domestic transfer window is officially open.”

After that, just the creak of that opening window and tumbleweed blowing through the league’s offices in Parktown until the closing of a slightly cracked window at 5pm on Friday, January 29.

Sadly, the South African transfer system appears to be broken. Or at the very least, in need of a thorough clean. Every six months we talk about big moves that SHOULD happen, how our R9m record fee SHOULD be broken, how Kaizer Chiefs or Orlando Pirates SHOULD have enough money for a match-winner.

But it simply doesn’t happen. In fact, since Mamelodi Sundowns stopped spending Patrice Motsepe’s billions two seasons ago, our transfer market has become something of a joke.

While the rest of the football-speaking world lashes out record-breaking millions, the best a PSL club has ever managed was the reputed R9m Sundowns played Ajax Cape Town for Khama Billiat in August 2013.

In current terms, R9m amounts to about 400,000 British pounds. Even third tier clubs pay more than that in Europe. Remember, when they were still a Championship club, Bournemouth paid 2.5m (R70m) for Bafana Bafana striker Tokelo Rantie in August 2013, around the same time Billiat was leaving Cape Town for Tshwane. And he’s played 10mins in the Premier League this season.

The enormous fees paid in Europe cannot be matched in Africa... but the collapse of South Africa's fee-system remains a staggering but unwritten sensation.

There are obvious players who SHOULD demand more than R9m in the PSL today. Siphelele Ntshangase languishes with NFD club Black Leopards, teenager Phakamani Mahlambi and his Bidvest Wits team-mate Sibusiso Vilakasi should be tempting the Soweto giants.

And for lesser fees, Tendai Ndoro, Thabo Qalinge, David Zulu and Lehlohonolo Majoro are among the obvious targets as they warm benches at Pirates and Chiefs. And then you have the current PSL top scorers, Daine Klate and Collins Mbesuma, two men let go by the big clubs, plying their trade with significant success for Wits and Mpumalanga Black Aces.

So will we see a big transfer swoop this window? Probably not. In South Africa, coaches are rarely allowed to splash out money like they are in Europe. Here, technical directors and general managers do the deals directly with agents.

As I have documented here many times, Stuart Baxter left Chiefs because Bobby Motaung would not allow him a say on recruitment after last season's record breaking PSL title triumph. James Keene, the English journeyman who trialled brightly at Naturena, has just been snapped up by Gavin Hunt and Jose Ferreira at big-spending minnows Wits a year after Chiefs refused to make a move.

The problem is the agent/club link. Transfer fees are seen as money "wasted" when it can be split between the officials involved in the deal. The days of small clubs part-funding themselves with transfer fees from the giants appear to be over.

That’s why Tim Sukazi, currently the most successful agent in South Africa thanks to his strong links to national coach Shakes Mashaba, shifted his players around a year ago. Tshepo Gumede and Siyabonga Mpontshane went to Orlando Pirates while Tlou Segolela went the other way to Platinum Stars. All three were presented as BIG SIGNINGS but in truth, it was a swap deal which has resulted in very little for either club but a nice slice of the pie for everyone involved except the clubs.

When Kaizer Chiefs top scorer Mandla Masango and PSL player of the season Tefu Mashamaite were not given new contracts after winning the championship last year, neither of them could find a local club willing to step in. Incredibly, they both had to decamp to Scandinavia to get a game.

Meanwhile, Kaizer Chiefs announced the "big transfers" of Siyanda Xulu, Keegan Ritchie, Daniel Cardoso, Camaldine Abraw (amid some controversy), Bongani Ndulula, Edward Manqele and, later, an unknown Ugandan called Sula Matovu.

Oh, and they also tried to present Sibongiseni Ngcobo and Andisiwe Mtsila, two “academy” lads, as new signings, along with Lucky Baloyi, because he hadn’t gone out on loan. And, finally, they did a new deal with goalkeeper Itumeleng Khune, clearly on Bobby's terms.

Go through those names. Look for the transfer fees. Try to guess the salaries. These weren’t transfers, these were deals struck between Bobby Motaung and various agents. Neither the out-going Stuart Baxter nor new coach Steve Komphela had any say.

In truth, the European-style transfer swoop is dead in South Africa. That magical, morale-boosting grab, like Petr Cech going to Arsenal for £10million or Anthony Martial to Manchester United for £36million just won’t happen.

There is no transparency in our transfer market. Just as the PSL refuses to give us crowd figures, so we are denied ANY INSIGHT in to fees or salaries. Fans and journalists alike work in the dark. We know the big clubs have plenty of money - Vodacom, Carling and Absa offer millions - but we have no idea where it goes.

While the fans rush around talking in excited tones about Vilakazi going to Kaizer Chiefs after Bobby Motaung (illegally) said he wants to go, the agents are shifting around New Zealanders (five at the last count) and age-cheating journeymen in deeply dodgy dealings with the likes of Motaung and Screamer Tshabalala while their chairmen are given sketchy details.

SuperSport United led the way in the last window. Dean Furman, Bongani Khumalo and Michael Boxall all arrived from foreign fields (along with a couple of others from Down Under) and we all knew money was being spent but HOW MUCH? And WHY? Mike Makaab, fashionable when Gordon Igesund was Bafana coach, is now Stanley Matthews' best pal, along with a chap called Glyn Binkin, architect of such memorable deals as Katlego Mphela and Morgan Gould to Chiefs.

Just as South African football craves disappearing spray, goal-line technology, disciplinary reviews and referee assessments (and less mid-season breaks), so we need a transfer market that we can all see and appreciate.

Watch closely as this January transfer window saga unfolds. Look for real, serious signings designed to lift a club out of the doldrums. Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates get R50m a year from Vodacom. They should both be spending, given their current positions. Both coaches Steve Komphela and Eric Tinkler are under huge pressure... yet they have no say in who comes and goes.

R10m for Vilakazi, Ntshangase, Abbubaka Mobara or Mahlambi should be possible. Ndoro, Majoro, David Zulu and Ndulula should find new homes. But if certain people don’t get their cut, it won’t happen. If the right agent isn’t wandering around outside the gate with his cell phone, players will remain unhappy and unfulfilled. And so will the fans.

And we’ll end up with more mysterious moves of no-name foreigners and has-beens. 

Record-breaking transfers? Exciting last-minute deals? We can only hope. You have been warned.

The Major development: Tim Sukazi says Majoro is 99.1 percent certain to move to Orlando Pirates before the transfer window closes

Major asset: Majoro

TIM SUKAZI insists he is "99.1 percent certain" that Kaizer Chiefs striker Lehlonololo Majoro will join arch-rivals Orlando Pirates before the transfer window closes at midnight tomorrow.

Sukazi, who saw his prized client turn down a move to SuperSport United earlier this month, has worked miracles to get Chiefs and Pirates around the table to discuss the future of the Bafana goal-getter.

Talking on my football show BOLLOCKZ! on www.ballz.co.za, Sukazi (see video below) said: "It was never going to be easy but the two clubs are hard at work trying to get the Majoro situation worked out, to get him to move across NOW.

"I can go so far as to say it's 99.1% the deal will be done by February 1."

Majoro, top scorer at AmaZulu before his move to the AmaKhosi in 2011, has found himself languishing on the bench since the arrival of Zimbabwe's Knowledge Musona on loan from Hoffenheim at the start of the season.

But Sukazi said: "Majoro scored 15 goals for AmaZulu and Chiefs in his last two full seasons. And Orlando Pirates are keen to have him, given their problems scoring goals."

Born in Ladybrand in the Free State 27 years ago, Majoro would be just the man to boost the ailing Pirates "bottom to the top" campaign which has seen the club desperately trying to rise up the table as they make up the backlog of fixtures caused by the Buccaneers' run to the African Champions League final last year.

With coach Roger de Sa saying "Majoro is quality, I'd love to have him here", all that remains is for Pirates and Chiefs to agree to break the gentleman's agreement preventing movement between the Soweto giants - and a willingness to help him move with six months still left on his Naturena contract.

Sukazi said: "Majoro is training on his own at the moment since all this transfer talk began, it would be in everyone's best interests - including Bafana Bafana - if we could get him playing for the next five months.

"Nobody wants top strikers in South Africa kicking their heels. I'm sure Pirates are ready to play Major as soon as possible."

With Glyn Binkin working equally hard to move his train-alone striker Katlego Mphela to Chiefs from Mamelodi Sundowns - a pre-contract has been signed - the two agents both told BOLLOCKZ! how hard they've been working to move their stars before the window closes tomorrow.

Binkin said: "Both Mphela and Majoro need to get playing. They are fit and want to move to their new clubs. We will talk until midnight."

Sukazi revealed he is also set to move Luyolo Nomandela from Free State Stars to Mamelodi Sundowns. Binkin said he had TEN deals that could yet go through, including 15-year-old Liam Jordan - son of the late Bafana striker Keryn - to Bidvest Wits after flying him over from Auckland in New Zealand.

 BOLLOCKZ! my innovative football show on www.ballz.co.za airs every Thursday from 9am-11am. See Ballz' channel for our growing library of fascinating football interviews with the big names. 

You can also follow me on www.twitter.com/nealcol for all the latest sports news… and read my “Neal & Pray” column every Tuesday in www.thenewage.co.za.

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SuperSport United CEO Stanley Matthews lifts the lid on the transfer window, Majoro's U-turn... and 13 years of Tim Sukazi

Making his point: SuperSport United CEO Stan Matthews

STANLEY MATTHEWS, the SuperSport United CEO, lifted the lid on the problems agents create in the transfer market last night but insisted: “It happens all over the world.”

Talking on my football show BOLLOCKZ! on www.ballz.co.za, former PSL CEO Matthews refused to condemn striker Lehlonolo Majoro for his “u-turn” on joining SSU from Kaizer Chiefs, arguing “every player has that right”.

Matthews pointed to a 13-year relationship with Lehlonololo Majoro’s agent Tim Sukazi – and insisted all is well between them despite last night’s release of a statement revealing Majoro was set to move to Orlando Pirates  (see http://neal-collins.blogspot.com/2014/01/full-text-of-agent-tim-sukazi-statement.html).

Matthews had publicly confirmed Majoro’s move to Tshwane but was forced to backtrack. But he remains unfazed, saying: “They call the transfer window the silly season all around the world, not just in South Africa. Sometimes it can become complex unnecessarily.

“You’re always going to have situations where there’s things go wrong. The biggest problem for me is sometimes the role of agents in transfer dealings, they make it more complicated.

“Agents come in and colour the issue, some of them multiple deal, you think you’re moving in one direction but behind the scenes things are happening you aren’t aware of. But it does happen around the world, where these shenanigans happen.

“Last week we had to take it on the chin (when the George Maluleka swap deal with Majoro fell through) and we did. Hopefully things are better this week!

“There’s not a lot of good agents in this country. You have to develop a working relationship with people, like I have with Majoro’s agent, Tim Sukazi.

“We’ve been working together 13 years, he’s never ever told me something that didn’t happen or confirmed something that was wrong. I took his word on it – that’s what happens.

“Sometimes the player has to stand up and take responsibility. But in the end, it isn’t the agent who signs the contract, it is the player. The agent is there to represent the will of the player. I’d been informed on one story the whole way through with Majoro, but at the last minute that changed.

“Two things have to happen in a transfer:  the two clubs need to agree and the player needs to agree personal terms. We had the same situation with Manyama (Ajax and Chiefs had agreed, gone public… but Manyama ended up at SSU) and Majoro. The player did a u-turn. Players have the right to play where they want to play.

“We withdrew our offer, we’ve moved on quite publicly and to be quite honest with you, not two days ago, the agent was back asking me if we would take Majoro on a six month loan.

“But we’ve closed that chapter and by then we were working on other players. We’re very excited about Dino Ndlovu arriving on loan – and he is available to play against Orlando Pirates (at the Orlando Stadium tomorrow, 3.30pm).

“We really have nothing else to say on the issue: Good luck to Majoro wherever he ends up playing. He’s a quality player, he’s got goals in him.”

With Thato Mokeke – one of the finds of the current CHAN tournament for Bafana - and Clayton Daniels both signing pre-contracts, Matthews said: “There was always going to be a reshuffle after Gavin Hunt left. Cavin Johnson came in, started nicely, slipped back a little bit, but certainly by next year we’d like to be in a position to win the title.

“If we have a good run, anything is possible this season too – we are in the top six. Let’s see how it goes against Pirates.”

BOLLOCKZ! my own football show on www.ballz.co.za, airs every Thursday from 9am. See the Ballz channel on www.YouTube.com for our growing collection of interviews with the big names in South African football.

You can also follow me on www.twitter.com/nealcol for all the latest sports news… and read my “Neal and Pray” column every Tuesday in www.thenewage.co.za.

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Bongani Khumalo: With Dawson Injured, Will Redknapp Regret His Decision?

AND suddenly, Tottenham Hotspur boss Harry Redknapp is left ruing his decision not to sign South Africa’s finest defender Bongani Khumalo before the transfer window slammed shut last week.

When his England defender Michael Dawson lurched over on the Wembley turf during the second half of last Friday’s 4-0 win over Bulgaria, Redknapp and his Spurs followers had their hearts in their mouths.

With Ledley King already reduced to training on the massage table and Jonathan Woodgate so injury prone he’s not even in the current 25-man squad, Spurs are, as our ‘Arry likes to say: “Down to the bare bones” at centre-back.

And Khumalo, who spent a “highly successful” trial period at White Hart Lane last month, is back home, waiting to captain South African champions SuperSports United against Mamelodi Sundowns at the HM Pitje Stadium on the 18^th after South Africa’s 2-0 win over Niger.

If the big move comes, it won’t be until the window creaks open again on January 1.

Dawson will be out for “at least eight weeks” after spraining his ankle and knee on England duty, leaving Spurs with veteran French defender William Gallas, Younes Kaboul and Cameroon’s Sebastian Bassong to cope at West Brom on Saturday.

All they had to do, according to SuperSports United chairman Khulu Sibiya, was offer a little more money and they would have had Khumalo, the 23-year-old sensation who scored against France and was a World Cup ever-present in South Africa.

Sure, north London has not always been a slick route for South African footballing émigrés, just ask Mbulelo OJ Mabizela, who came over from Orlando Pirates and sank without trace after scoring a cracker on his debut in 2003. Mabizela is now back home with the Platinum Stars. Not because he couldn’t play, but because he was all at sea in London.

But Khumalo, articulate, contained, ever-so-serious, clearly believes he is ready to follow in the footsteps of former South Africa captains Lucas Radebe, still a hero in Leeds where they named a pop group after his beloved Kaizer Chiefs, and Aaron Mokoena, who taught Portsmouth fans exactly what an Mbazo can do in football boots.

In this strange Premier League versus Media Madness world, Khumalo just has to glimpse Benni McCarthy’s plight at West Ham or this week’s Wayne Rooney headlines to know what to expect.

The response is all it could be: “I enjoyed my trial with Spurs and all I can say is that, at this stage, the deal is pending and an announcement will be made later.

“As a professional you need to carry yourself very well. It’s vital you train well and set a good example on and off the field. I live in that lifestyle.

“When you play, and you watch the stands, it adds more energy to your play. You know what it means to the fans.

“You have to stay motivated, stay strong mentally. The next step would be to move overseas, to play in the European leagues.”

"It would be a dream come true if the transfer materialises. I have always wanted to play in England and obviously in the Premier League, and it would be a dream to move to Tottenham. If it happens, it would be up to me to make sure it works.

"Playing in the Champions League would be another dream. I think the Champions League is the closest level to the World Cup in terms of quality and the play, so it would be great to make the move."

And for linguists reading this, relax. He really does talk that way. Khumalo explains: “My mum was an English teacher at a high school, so English was always the main focus. I speak English the way I was taught.”

Oh, and his late father was a lecturer in African languages at Unisa. If only Fabio Capello’s parents had been something similar, the England camp might be a lot happier right now.

But I digress.

Radebe, who changed the way South Africans are seen in England, insists: "Bongani is destined for great heights in his football career,” while Glyn Binkin, who represents both players, is not going to let wheeler-dealer ‘Arry have his man on the cheap. Before the expected move in January, Binkin warns: "At this stage, absolutely nothing has been finalised and discussions are ongoing between representatives of the various parties.”

Khumalo, born when his parents were working in Swaziland in 1987, is 23. Resident in Mamelodi near Pretoria from the age of two, he started out at Arcadia Shepherds, the once-famous capital club responsible for grooming such luminaries as Aston Villa’s European Cup winner Peter Withe and former Blackburn, QPR and Coventry star Roy Wegerle.

Then he moved on to the University of Pretoria before signing for SuperSports United, who have dominated the South African Premier League for three years despite their marked lack of support.

There, he is under the watchful eye of South Africa’s own Alex Ferguson, Gavin Hunt. A no-nonsense coach who told me England were rubbish before the World Cup even started, Hunt says: "People should realise that Bongani is a player who has the quality to play in one of the top leagues in Europe.

"He has matured so well in the last few years and I am so pleased that he has been given the chance to experience this World Cup in South Africa."

Hunt, who has himself been linked with jobs in England, is aware of interest in Khumalo from Rangers in Scotland, and from elsewhere in Europe.

But for Bongani happily remains with the Matsatsantse, and lists his favourite Premier League player as Manchester United’s Nemanja Vidic.

He drives Seat Leon Cupra (“the beast”), smiles too infrequently and concludes: “We all want to play for big teams overseas and if the opportunity comes I’ll jump at it.”

FOOTNOTE: Bongani, if you do come over in January and you need a sympathetic bloke to show you London, I’m here pal. Despite the fact I grew up playing for Arcadia Shepherds’ arch-rivals Berea Park, you’re welcome to share my house with my four crazy kids any time. All I ask in return is that you turn out, just once, for my team Goldhill Baptists on the common in Chalfont St Giles, recently voted Buckinghamshire’s Best Kept Village. It’s about half-an-hour from London. We’re the current national over-35 FA Cup holders. I’m the other centre-back. You won’t regret it.