Lyle Foster to Burnley: A lifeline for South African soccer?

It probably says a lot about the state of the game in South Africa that there has been so much excitement surrounding Foster’s move when he will be playing in the Championship; England’s second tier.

That said, Burnley are top of the table and on course for promotion, and Foster is being coached by a true legend of the game - former Manchester City and Belgium defender Vincent Kompany.

Foster reportedly cost around 10 million euros and he penned a four-and-a-half year deal. It suggest Burnley see Foster as a real star of the future and hopefully that feeling of being wanted will help him settle in quickly and soon get amongst the goals.

In years gone by it was thrilling to witness the likes of Lucas Radebe, Benni McCarthy, Aaron Mokoena, Steven Pienaar, Mark Fish and Shaun Bartlett test themselves against some of the best players in the world when they plied their trade in England’s top flight.

But since Pienaar left Everton and later Sunderland, around six years ago, there has been little for South African soccer fans to get excited about.

This is even at a time when African players have become increasingly influential in the Premier League.

There was of course a brief glimmer of hope when Percy Tau signed for Brighton, but he only made a couple of fleeting appearances for the Seagulls before he left to join Pitso Mosimane at Al Ahly.

SA football fans will be hoping that Foster learns from the challenges Tau faced and has a more successful stay in England.

There’s a school of thought that many local players become too comfortable in the PSL, where salaries range from decent to very good and where home comforts appeal.

Hopefully Foster being successful could raise ambition and motivation levels for the next generation.

Foster is a great example of what can be achieved when players are developed properly from a young age. He was in the Pirates academy as a teenager and played for most of the SA national team age groups. He also went over to Europe early and has played in France, Portugal and Belgium; yet only turned 22 last September.