SuperSport United CEO Stan Matthews has revealed that he had a mammoth task in the previous transfer window to fight off two players from joining Kaizer Chiefs on free transfers.
Soccer Laduma broke the story that Chiefs had made Luke Fleurs a priority signing from last year and after their initial offer was rejected, they had another option and wanted to sign Fleurs on a pre-contract in January 2023, as his deal was set to expire at the end of the season.
However, SuperSport managed to convince the 22-year old to extend his stay for at least a further three years.
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In the background, Amakhosi were also courting United centre-back Thatayaone Ditlhokwe, whose contract is also expiring in June 2023 and this time around they beat Matsatsantsa to his signature.
Matthews suggested that Chiefs coming for both his centre-backs caught him off guard and although he managed to convince Fleurs to stay, he could not do the same with Ditlhokwe, who was offered "telephone numbers".
"On the TT issue and the Chiefs issue, number one, he's the first player we've lost on a free in my 23 years at the club, obviously a bitter disappointment," Matthews said on Marawa Sports Worldwide.
"But I've also signed over 200 players to SuperSport over these two decades for free, I've lived by that sword and definitely I'm not the person to complain now that the sword came to hit me because I've survived on that pre-contract with players and getting players for free.
"Chiefs came for both my centre-backs at the same time, Luke (Fleurs) was coming free, 'TT' was coming free, Chiefs came for both of them. My one set of negotiations with the agent, I could match the numbers and I could fight to keep the player, which was Luke," he said.
"The other guy (Ditlhokwe) had a different agent, with different ideas, different telephone numbers and I could not match those numbers."
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Matthews explained further that there is a line he can't cross when signing players because there are financial constraints at the club.
"So unfortunately the reality in football now is that it's a business and we have shareholders and we're accountable for what we spend and when you're playing in the league where the prize money is R15 million," he went on.
"So you tell me if I'm going to win R15 million for winning the league, does it make sense for me to spend R150 million in the transfer market? R100 million in the transfer market? R80 million, R50 million? R40 million?
"What's the number that makes sense for a business person who stands to win at best R15 million, of which R7,5 million goes directly to the players and the technical team, because that's the policy in our club?" he asked.
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