Kaizer Chiefs’ ‘Messi’ ditches Naturena for Orlando Pirates

Have Kaizer Chiefs lost another promising young player to one of their main rivals?

That was the question at the weekend when youngster Jacob Serman was spotted training with Orlando Pirates.

Serman is a highly-rated young player who has won numerous trophies for Chiefs’ U13 and U14 sides but he could be playing for their bitter rivals if latest reports are anything to go by.

According to multiple reports, the player nicknamed Lionel Messi due to his exceptional talent, great left foot and good ball retention skills akin to the Barcelona and Argentina legend, is now training with the Pirates’ U18 team.

Serman has lit it up at Naturena

The former SuperSport United academy star has enjoyed success with the junior sides at Chiefs and was hoped that he could develop further into a star at the club, having lit it up at Naturena alongside Pitso Mosimane’s son, Reatlegile.

He now looks to continue his development at Pirates where he will be hoping to follow in the footsteps of a number of youngsters who went through the development and turned into PSL stars.

Will Chiefs regret losing talented star?

Pirates are littered with examples of players who shone for their second-string side before blossoming like Relebohile Mofokeng, Camren Dansin as well as Mbekezeli Mbokazi and Mohau Nkota, who have since secured transfers abroad.

Whether Chiefs might come to regret the decision to let him leave remains to be seen given the number of academy stars who left the club and went on to do well elsewhere, attracting huge transfer fees that even Amakhosi could not pay to bring them back.