Oswin Appollis: How Kaizer Chiefs missed cheap deal to sign Orlando Pirates star

Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates both had a chance to sign Oswin Appollis much earlier, and on the cheap, but passed up the opportunity, according to his ex-club Pretoria Callies.

Appollis has gone from strength to strength since joining Polokwane City in 2023, becoming a key player for Rise and Shine as well as Bafana Bafana, something that earned him a big transfer to Pirates last year.

The Cape Town-born winger joined Pirates ahead of the just-concluded season for a fee believed to be in the region of R16 million and has had an impressive debut season, scoring 12 goals and adding nine assists, in 44 matches across all competitions.

Missed opportunity for Chiefs and Pirates

Appollis helped Pirates to a treble of PSL, MTN8 and Carling Knockout and is one of the Player of the Season candidates, showing how the investment is paying off for the Soweto giants.

However, both Pirates and Chiefs would have signed him even before he joined Polokwane City, which would have cost much less, given he joined Rise and Shine for R900,000.

“Do you know that we even tried to move Appollis to Kaizer Chiefs and Pirates before he went to Polokwane, but they couldn’t see him that way at the time?” Callies chairman Moses Malada told KickOff.

Oswin Appollis in line for 2026 World Cup

“We went as far as arranging friendly matches against these two big teams, but they couldn’t see it that way when he was with us. Then when he got to Polokwane, they all came running for him,” he added on how the Soweto giants missed a great opportunity.

Appollis adds to a catalogue of players missed by Chiefs and who went on to perform exceptionally elsewhere, but in his case, he found a move that his immense talents deserved and he is reaping the benefits.

The 24-year-old is among favourites to make the final Bafana Bafana World Cup squad and if he has a good tournament, Pirates will find themselves struggling to keep hold of him although they would make a big profit were he to be sold.