Spurs react to losing Baartman & Velebayi: I’m surprised with Chiefs

Cape Town Spurs CEO Alexi Efstathiou has conceded he is surprised by the way the business relationship between his team and Kaizer Chiefs has recently turned out.

The Urban Warriors have lost their talented duo, Luke Baartman and Asanele Velebayi, on a free transfer to the Soweto giants. During their time in the Premier Soccer League, Amakhosi showed interest in Velebayi but were not willing to match Spurs' valuation.

When the team was relegated to the second tier, Chiefs, once again, tried to sign Velebayi but their offer was not accepted. Spurs fell further to the third tier, which is not recognised as a professional league, but rather an amateur one. 

Chiefs capitalised on the chance to get Velebayi, alongside Baartman, without paying a dime. Despite the Urban Warriors' battle to push the Glamour Boys to pay at least the development fee, SAFA ruled in favour of the latter, which has given the players freedom to make their debut in competitive matches.

Chiefs haven't spoken a word to us

I am surprised with Kaizer Chiefs because I mean, as you know, last year we did a deal with Rushwin Dortley,” he told FARPost.

“Kaizer Jr [Motaung] was well within himself, phoned. We negotiated, we didn’t agree on certain things, and finally, we found a point where everyone was happy. So it’s not that we don’t do business with Kaizer Chiefs.

“There are just Kaizer Chiefs supporters always mourning about everything. So it’s not about that. Kaizer [Jr] and I dealt, and it was great. But to be honest, if I were Kaizer and someone told me, ‘Listen, you can get these two players for free, ’ what would I do? Then it’s up to Kaizer’s conscious if he wants to come and talk to us.

“I mean, until today, Kaizer Chiefs have not spoken a word to us. So we don’t know what they are thinking.

“We don’t know anything. So when people say they came last year, yes, they did. I can also give you the numbers. We wanted R10 million for Asenele [Velebayi], and they offered R4 million. They offered us two players on loan, but we said no. We are not in the business of loaning players, and then they just went quiet. So that’s what happened,” Efstathiou concluded.