Mbekezeli’s move to Chicago Fire before AFCON, a mistake? Have a look

A couple of weeks ago, South Africa international Mbekezeli Mbokazi made a bold move to leave Soweto giants Orlando Pirates for the Major League Soccer outfit Chicago Fire.

The 20-year-old had just made his debut in the top flight in March and needed no time to settle. He cemented his place at the Buccaneers, playing against top teams domestically and abroad which attracted Bafana Bafana coach Hugo Broos.

Mbokazi has since been the main man at the heart of the South Africa defence. In the ongoing Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) in Morocco where he has played all Group B games against Angola, Egypt, and Zimbabwe.

Some stakeholders have been arguing that Mbokazi could have waited until the end of the biennial competition before making his move,

Did Mbokazi make a mistake by moving early?

“I won’t say it’s difficult to move a player after a tournament. It depends. He could be at AFCON and after AFCON, he could have had some interest but then again he might not have had interest,” an agent opened up to Soccer Laduma.

“Everyone is saying ‘He should have waited’ but the other side of it is what if Bafana Bafana get knocked out early? Do you think there’s gonna be these top clubs interested? Not necessarily.

“It’s also driven by the player, these boys sometimes just want to leave the country, without putting much thought into what kind of a league it is. You can always wait in life but that does not mean something better is gonna come.

“But when a PSL club is willing to do a deal in general, the player would have to play along,” he concluded.