Former Kaizer Chiefs winger George Lebese has explained why he left Amakhosi to join Mamelodi Sundowns in 2017.
The 35-year-old former footballer made a highly controversial switch from Chiefs to Downs which did not go well with the Khosi faithfuls. Unfortunately for the Mamelodi-born star, his move to Chloorkop was a failure, and only played a handful of games in the two seasons.
This week, Lebese said there was an influence back home that made him switch from Kaizer Chiefs to Mamelodi Sundowns
“Why did I leave the bag? I was up for renewal and Bobby Motaung (Chiefs team manager) called me and said I needed to renew. He gave me the numbers (money). The numbers exceeded what I wanted to ask for,” Lebese explained on Izinja zeGame while speaking to former Kaizer Chiefs and Sundowns winger Josta Dladla.
“My agent was paid from the other side (Sundowns). They said ‘Get us this guy’. How he went about it was, he did not have the best interest at heart about my career.
“My contract was out there, the media were asking ‘Is he gonna sign’. There was influence back at home. My friends are Sundowns supporters and I am from Mamelodi. My dad supports Sundowns and I have been at Chiefs the whole time. I felt like I was not growing,” he said.
Lebese’s family supported Sundowns while he played for Kaizer Chiefs
“Then I looked at the other side and thought I could win things with these players. At that time, they had just won the Caf Champions League and I wanted to be part of that special group. It made sense to me and it was less than what Chiefs were offering, probably half.” Lebese added
“It was an improvement from what I was getting then, but it was not a match for what Chiefs were offering to extend (the contract). I made a decision that I want to grow and coach Pitso Mosimane was in my ear… he was calling and be like ‘Ey, don’t sign’,” he said.
Lebese eventually left Kaizer Chiefs to join Sundowns after spending nine years at Naturena.
Why did Lebese flop at Sundowns?
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