Kaizer Chiefs head of recruitment reveals why Amakhosi do not sign West Africans

Kaizer Chiefs Head of Scouting and Recruitment and Scouting Thembisa ‘Tera’ Maliwa has opened up over why the club rarely signs players from West African countries.

Chiefs, and by extension South African clubs, do not go for talents in West Africa despite the huge number of good players in that region with Southern Africans, East and Central African players making up the huge number of those in the PSL.

Maliwa says while there are plenty of good players in West Africa, they do not consider South Africa a good destination as they are always keen for the shortest route to the top five leagues in Europe.

Why do SA clubs miss out on West Africans?

“West Africans have their own thinking of wanting to go to Europe, and Ghana for instance, have 720 players in Europe and coming to South Africa would be the second or third option,” Maliwa said on African Football Connect.

“In the last few years, Gambia players have been moving to Europe like many of them. Togo, Senegal and that is a market with good quality players and it is a matter of convincing.  

“If a player says I have an offer from Sweden… and the West African player does not care which country they go to in Europe. It can be Iceland but they know, two or three years there, they will be in EPL or in Spain.”

European scouts given priority

Maliwa also says South African teams are now finding it hard to secure West Africans during major tournaments like African Nations Championships and Africa Cup of Nations as they are competing with scouts from Europe who get priority when targeted players learn of the interest.

“Now, you go to tournaments like CHAN and AFCON and you have like eight scouts there from Europe. If a player finds that there are eight scouts from Europe, he will not choose Kaizer Chiefs,” he added.

Chiefs have already identified their targets for the January transfer window according to Maliwa and while they will keep an eye on the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations that kicks off in Morocco on Sunday, they will likely steer clear of West Africans.