Agent opens up on Njabulo Blom's Kaizer Chiefs impasse

In an exclusive interview on Sports Night Amplified with Andile on Metro FM, addressing a story on Soccer Laduma that talks between Blom and Amakhosi had “hit a snag”, Rob Moore confirmed the club have been reluctant to give his client a new and improved deal.

Blom was promoted to the Chiefs' senior team in 2019 and his current contract will expire at the end of June next year.

Moore confirmed there is a deadlock.

"I think he’s in a situation where he can’t make that decision because the financial component is not where it should be, and therefore, Andile, I would imagine that he feels undervalued. That probably doesn’t give him a great feeling at this point in time," Moore told host Andile Ncube on Wednesday night.

"But I want to make it clear, that is not going to affect Njabulo Blom’s attitude and commitment and his work ethic day in and day out at training – that’s absolutely is not the case."

When pressed to disclose whether the player was asking for 'telephone numbers' as Chiefs reportedly feel their proposal is too high, Moore said he was only asking for what is fair for Blom – a player with potential and on the Bafana Bafana radar.

"I’d like to think we don’t suck numbers out of our thumb. We go in with what we think are reasonable factors. What Kaizer Chiefs’ latest offer is to Blom is that he will only be earning 50 percent of what player X is earning," Moore explained.

"Does that sound reasonable to you? Does that sound like a guy who is asking for fantasy numbers? Or does that sound like a guy who looks at things and says something is not right here?

"Is this maybe a situation where I am an academy player coming through the ranks and therefore I am expected to receive less than what others are, even though I’ve achieved more at a younger age?

"This doesn’t sound like a bad guy with a bad attitude or a rotten apple in the team. It sounds like a guy who says, the numbers we are asking for are reasonable. What he has asked for is less than what player X is earning.

"Where is the ridiculous demands? There’s nothing like that at all. He earns significantly less than what most players in Kaizer Chiefs starting line-up earn.

"Now, this is about the next contract, what is fair and reasonable for what his current standing is and his future potential. By my thinking, that is not unreasonable."

Blom has started only two matches so far this season, which seems concerning given he featured in 30 across all competitions in the previous campaign.

“How they [Chiefs] are perceiving this is no different to how the big clubs around the world look at things. They think that, if a player comes through the academy, for some reason, he must earn less than what the market would pay him," continued Moore, who also represents the likes of Benni McCarthy and Steven Pienaar.

"That’s antiquated thinking. Andile, do you think a player with those kinds of stats last year, who has played for his country, is suddenly, overnight, a player with a bad attitude?

"Absolutely not. Anybody who knows Njabulo Blom will tell you he is a humble and professional guy. This is probably more about, 'Well, you don’t want to sign a contract, now you’ve got a bad attitude.'

Kaizer [Motaung] Jr, Arthur Zwane and Dillon Sheppard were all players in their day. Have they forgotten that they also wanted their agents to stand up and get them a deal that they felt was market-related? That’s not bad attitude.

“He is coming off the base of having a small contract, relatively speaking. It was a contract that was signed three years ago when he was coming from the academy. So you cannot use that as a yard stick. That’s maybe what they are doing and [how they] want Njabulo to view it.”

The agent said it is now ultimately up to Blom.

“I don’t know, we’ve given a position that I think is fair and reasonable. Njabulo Blom must ultimately decide whether he wants to accept the contract and stay at Chiefs. This is all about, 'Am I wanted at this club?'

"Things have happened that are unhelpful in this situation. I’ve presented what is fair and reasonable and they [Chiefs] don’t think it’s fair. The problem is the longer they take, the closer the player is to the end of his contract – it’s a roll of the dice,” added Moore.

Should an agreement between the two parties not be reached, the 22-year-old will be eligible to sign a pre-contract with any club of his choice from January 2023.