10th January 2023
It’s emerged that the Glamour Boys were informed about the experienced player’s availability as a possible replacement for the young Njabulo Blom, who was this month sold to St Louis City in the USA.
Mokotjo has been without a club since November 2021 after partying ways with FC Cincinnati in the Major League Soccer with the hope that he would reunite with FC Twente in the Dutch topflight.
But seeing as that has not worked out and he remains unattached, it is understood the 31-year-old is open to playing in the Premier Soccer League, where he last featured for SuperSport United in 2009.
Mokotjo has been abroad for over a decade and he did tell Metro FM in August that he’d be keen on Chiefs because it is a “wonderful club that deserves more”.
According to SABC Sport sources, Chiefs are reluctant to sign a player who is over 30 given the mandate by the club – headed by sporting director Kaizer Motaung Jnr and coach Arthur Zwane – to drastically reduce the average age of the squad.
The Soweto giants have been intentional about recruiting from their youth academy of bringing on board players still very much in their early 20s, hence the decision to turn down an initial offer to add Mokotjo to their roster.
Although not clear, there have been suggestions that the player’s personal terms would be a stumbling block too if his previous MLS salary is anything to go by – the midfielder was confirmed to be earning R15-million per annum as a designated player.
“Money is important, but it is not the most important thing. What I want to do is, if the opportunity presents itself, I want to go where there’s a winning mentality. I want to enjoy my football and my home country,” Mokotjo said on Metro FM then.