New Royal AM head coach Khabo Zondo has made it clear that the club will not sell Victor Letsoalo amid interest from Orlando Pirates.
Kaizer Chiefs were baffled after Royal placed a hefty R20 million price tag on the Bafana Bafana international midway through the recent 2021-22 season.
Recent reports have indicated Letsoalo has handed in a transfer request as he looks to force a move to the Buccaneers who have been in talks with Thwihli Thwahla regarding his services.
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However, Zondo, who recently replaced Malawian tactician John Maduka at the Durban-based club, insisted that they cannot afford to lose their talisman.
"As a coach, I can't let Letsoalo go. I will be happy to have a player like him in the squad. He's a very important figure in the team.," Zondo said on Sowetan.
"If you look at the number of goals that he's scored recently, you'll understand why every coach would like to work with him."
Letsoalo was the highest-scoring South African player in the PSL this past term as he finished as the second-best top-scorer with 15 goals, seven behind Golden Boot winner Peter Shalulile of Mamelodi Sundowns.
Zondo explained that they have to keep the 29-year-old marksman with the club set to compete in four competitions namely, the PSL, Nedbank Cup, MTN8 and Caf Confederation Cup in the upcoming 2022-23 season.
"It's very important that we acknowledge the fact that we're going to the Confed Cup. We'll play so many matches and we'll need that depth in personnel to compete fairly," he added.
"So, we need every striker that we have. Look at a team like Sundowns, how many players do they have? Many because they play many games.''
Letsoalo is still contracted to Royal until June 2023.
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