As he ponders what the next step of his glittering career would be - be it as a player or otherwise - Itumeleng Khune has revealed why becoming a goalkeeper coach at Kaizer Chiefs is something he's not considering at the moment.
With a career spanning over two decades, many of which were trophy-laden under some of the finest goalkeeper coaches, the next logical step for Khune would be to plough back and groom the next generation of Amakhosi goalkeepers.
More especially with his future in limbo after Chiefs decided against renewing his contract for the 2024/25 Betway Premiership season.
However, Khune has ruled out the possibility of taking up that role - at least for now - as he looks to either continue a professional playing career, or explore his business ventures outside of the field.
"It has always been my dream to start and end my career as a footballer and get a different position at the club. Like I'm saying we are still in talks, but to be quite honest, I've never prepared myself for things to happen the way they did, and at the age 37, I didn't imagine things turning out this way," he told journalists.
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"I always thought I would get one more season until maybe age 39 or 40, so it didn't happen. But I don't see myself becoming a goalkeeper coach because that has always been my dream to play football as much as I can and then after retirement, I just stay away from football.
"But I know that I have to share my expertise and I have to share my skills with the current and the future goalkeepers of this country. But I'm still young to be a goalkeeper coach. I'm still young and I didn't see it coming this early. But like I said, I'm gonna need some time just to stay away from thinking about it too much and focus on the job at hand right now, I'm busy with TopBet. I'm busy at the mines. Because I want to diversify.
"We all aspire to be something in the future, and I knew that I wouldn't be a footballer forever but I always set my target at 40. I will start transitioning into something else but I guess God is great. He has worked in my favour. He has blessed me with yet another opportunity to be an owner and a shareholder at TopBet," he explained.
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