Cape Town Spurs CEO Alexi Efstathiou has discussed how the club declined an offer from Kaizer Chiefs for the services of Asanele Velebayi, stating that they had put forward a fair price for the player.
Amakhosi have been pursuing Velebayi's signature, but the Urban Warriors did not find the offer sufficient.
READ: Reports: Tau Makes R18m Al Ahly Request!
Spurs, who will compete in the Motsepe Foundation Championship after being relegated from the Premiership last season, are facing pressure from Velebayi's camp, which is not keen on the player remaining in the lower ranks.
Reports indicate that Velebayi himself wants to leave, and his parents have intervened to try to force a move according to the SABC, much to the displeasure of the Urban Warriors.
Additionally, there were questions raised as to whether Chiefs broke a FIFA rule by contacting the player, either directly or indirectly.
"Yes, an offer was indeed made and it was turned down. These tactics and tricks and agents use don't work with Cape Town Spurs," Efstathiou told Kickoff recently.
"They are the oldest strategies in the book. If you wanna keep by the rules, you don't contact players directly that's the first thing," he continued.
Then when speaking to Sports Night Amplified With Andile, Efstathiou further elaborated in a radio interview that there are currently no ongoing discussions after they declined the offer from the Soweto giants.
"We feel we priced (Velebayi) fairly. Well, the offer what we were looking for we did tell them. Like any other party, would they come back with an offer and you either agree or disagree and I think that's where we are. Since we declined their offer, we heard nothing back so I can't say it's ongoing now," Efstathiou said on radio.
Velebayi, who has been on the rise over the last season, was part of Bafana Bafana's Cosafa Cup squad earlier last month and can play in either defence or attack. Spurs, known for producing star players, believe Velebayi is a valuable asset and are not willing to let him go cheaply.
"Asanele (Velebayi) has played 99 professional games at the age of 21, you show me another 21-year-old that's got the amount of experience he has, if you convert the amount of minutes he has played, (it's) 3390 minutes up to now," Efstathiou said.
READ: Why Mngqithi Backs Downs' Decision On Zwane Contract
"So, there are 30-year-olds that's not played the amount of games he has played. Okay, so that's a very important point to note. We have been in the game for so long. We know when we have a diamond and Asanele is a diamond.
"Diamonds don't get sold for cheap unfortunately now. If you don't like the diamond then don't buy it. No one is forcing you to buy anything, you go look for another diamond elsewhere," added the CEO.
Chiefs recently completed a deal with the Urban Warriors for defender Rushwin Dortley, indicating there is recent business relations between the two clubs.
