It dragged throughout the whole of January, but Zakhele Lepasa was granted his wish to go out on loan and he has now given insight into his decision to spend some time away from Orlando Pirates.
Hardly anything was mentioned on Lepasa making a move, until deadline day when it was confirmed that he would be spending the rest of the season on loan to SuperSport United, who had let go of Iqraam Rayners not too long before that.
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For Lepasa, it was a chance to get into a new environment and see if he can get to a place where he is playing consistently and has, at times, room to make errors without being dropped from the line-up.
Of course, half a season is not always enough to make the required impact, but the 25-year-old has intentions of giving it his all. After all, there is no telling what can happen in the future, considering that club CEO Stan Matthews told the Siya crew that the door is open for them to hold onto the striker beyond the expiration of his loan deal.
Before leaving Pirates, Lepasa had not featured for the club in January, but had 10 appearances in all competitions from the first half of the season, with one goal to show.
In his first interview with the media since joining SuperSport, the player opened up on why he asked to be loaned out.
"I am doing well. It's a different environment, but what I like is the freedom I have been given to learn and make mistakes. I am settling in well," he told media during a media open day in Sunninghill, Johannesburg, on Wednesday morning.
"Obviously, the club did not want to and it dragged for the whole January, but I just thought that I needed to play a bit more, so that I can gain my confidence back. Being back and forth, three games you play and then you don't play... You don't know where your career is going. That's why I asked for the loan."
There is a possibility that Pirates could go into the market to bring in more strikers next season, which makes Lepasa's chances of playing regularly slim. He is fully aware of that, but he is waiting for the end of the season to see what happens next in his career.
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"Honestly, at the moment, I am not even thinking about going back or what will happen for me at the end of the season. I am trying to focus and try to help here because I am here. When the transfer window opens again, we will see what happens."
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