Orlando Pirates

Shooz: What Happened With My Contract At Pirates…

7 Jul 26, 2020 - 07:33 pm

By Soccer Laduma

In an exclusive interview with Soccer Laduma, a former Orlando Pirates defender opened up about what led to his contract being terminated at the club.

Asavela Mbekile, who is currently on the books of Stellenbosch FC, had his contract with the Bucs terminated back in January this year, though it did not take him long to find a new home as he put pen to paper on contract with the Western Cape outfit the following month.

In issue number 1183 of Soccer Laduma, the 33-year-old was asked to explain the situation he found himself in at Pirates that saw him being released in the previous transfer window.

“Look, I am not really sure exactly what happened, you know,” he went on to say. I still don’t know. But I wasn’t really a regular there, so maybe that is one of the reasons. Maybe they needed me to be a regular, but I wasn’t getting regular game-time.”

“There were younger players that were doing well in the position I was playing. Maybe being at my age, it made sense to say we needed to part ways because there was Tha- biso (Monyane), whom I think is a very good player, one for the future. He is a very good crosser of the ball and very athletic as well.”

“He is always ready to listen and learn. He is also very humble for someone that is young. It made sense for them to say, “Okay, we have Thabiso, we have (Mthokozisi) Dube and (Abel) Mabaso, who are younger than this guy, so let’s have them instead of having someone that is nearing the end of his career.”

“I had no problem with them asking to terminate my contract. My stay there was good and... I mean, it was an honour to meet the chairman, Dr. Irvin Khoza, who is a great person and a legend of South African football. When he talks, what comes out of his mouth you need to absorb because it is wis- dom. You learn a lot by just listening to what he is saying,” Mbekile added.

Check out issue number 1183 to read more on what Mbekile had to say about: