Family support, dedication behind Lyle Foster's move to Burnley - Augusto Palacios

By Velile Mnyandu
27th January 2023

As the country celebrated the biggest football deal to involve a South African player when Bafana Bafana’s Lyle Foster this week joined English Championship log leaders Burnley, one of the happiest people to see this dream come true was legendary youth coach Augusto Palacios.

The Peruvian-born coach is a key figure behind the development of Foster, who started training with him at the age of 12 at the esteemed Augusto Palacios Apprentice Academy before he graduated to Orlando Pirates at the age of 15.

Palacios has praised the support of Foster’s family as having been key in his rise.

"Lyle came to my academy when he was about 12/13 years old. One thing that stood out for me was the support from his family. The support from them gave him strength to train every day," he said.

Speaking to SABC Sport from his academy’s base in Johannesburg, Palacios says Lyle’s father Lance, has sacrificed a lot for his son and followed up on all his moves in football on and off the field.

"He was also focused in school and finished matric. He wasn't exposed to any bad company because he was always surrounded by his family. Up until today, when Lyle went to Monaco his father was with him, same thing in Pretoria, Portugal and Belgium now. His father is always there," Palacios added.

Foster’s fee that took him from KV Westerlo in Belgium to England could rise to around R187 million (at the current exchange rate), should they earn promotion to the English Premier League next season.

That would officially make this deal the biggest ever to involve a South African international player, which previously stood at R112 million (EUR 6 million) when Benni McCarthy joined Celta Vigo in Spain from Dutch side Ajax Amsterdam.

Palacios believes the 22-year-old, who has nine Bafana caps and a goal, is going to be a key player under head coach Vincent Kompany.

"Burnley plays with intention, there's no time to rest. He's still very young, he can play for them even for the next four years. I spoke to Lyle before his medical check yesterday and I told him that this is a big league and you gave your 100% in Belgium, that means here (England) you need to give it 200%. He's a player who listens and likes to learn, he's my ambassador in the academy," he concluded.