Kaizer Chiefs newcomer 'blacklisted': What happened?

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At the start of this year, there was great excitement when Kaizer Chiefs announce a set of new signings, which included Congolese international, Glody Makabi Lilepo from French club Valenciennes FC.

The exciting acquisition of a player with global experience signified Amakhosi’s first signing of the January transfer window, and clearly indicated a desire to bolster their attacking options.�

With 11 international caps for his national team, the attacker signed a two-and-a-half-year deal at Chiefs, which also includes an option for a further season.�

However, while there is still hope that his career continues to takes off with the Glamour Boys after a strong start, it has stalled at international level.

According to KickOff, DR Congo coach Sebastien Desabre has opted to overlook the 27-year-old for a call-up due to what is effectively disciplinary issues.

The report suggests that after his last call-up, Lilepo reacted poorly after his last national call-up, refusing to travel in the team bus to the stadium after he was dropped from the matchday squad.

After last playing for DRC against Uganda in 2023, he has now effectively been ‘blacklisted’, and will apparently miss upcoming World Cup qualifiers unless something significant changes.

Can the attacking player focus on continuing to make an impact at Kaizer Chiefs?

This Saturday Kaizer Chiefs face another massive match against Stellenbosch FC at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in their Nedbank Cup quarter-final.

“We still have to improve consistency regarding our tactical performances and results,” coach, Nasreddine Nabi commented.

“It fluctuates; sometimes very good and sometimes below the standard we should be at. This is not uncommon at this stage after starting a new process from the beginning. Even though there are many opinions out there about the state of the team, what we are lacking and we need to improve, we fully understand where we are in the process and how we want to go forward.”