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Kaizer Chiefs strikers GFXGOAL
Steve Blues

Goal shy Kaizer Chiefs have become a graveyard of under-performing strikers who can't score

In the last five seasons, a succession of overhyped strikers have arrived at Naturena, believing they will deliver the goals Amakhosi so desperately need. But 13 strikers later and goodness knows how much money spent, The Glamour Boys still can't seem to stick it in the net.

This season was supposed to be different. Chiefs were on a high, having broken their trophy drought, Nasserdine Nabi was giving Ange Postecoglou second-season vibes, and the club had transferred in 11 players, four of whom, Flavio Silva, Etiosa Ighodaro, Luke Baartman and Khanyiso Mayo, are considered strikers. 

They joined Ashley Du Preez, Wandile Duba and Tashreeq Morris as options upfront. Surely with all that firepower Chiefs would finally start smashing them past bewildered goalkeepers?

Nope.

Instead, it is looking like yet another season where Chiefs' primary goal-scoring weapons will not reach double figures. The last time a striker managed that wearing the Black and Gold was in the 2019-20 season when Samir Nurkovic was in his prime and bagged 14 across all competitions.

GOAL dives into the last five seasons of The Glamour Boys' striker scoring woes.

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  • Leonardo Castro, Kaizer Chiefs, December 2021Backpagepix

    The 2021-22 season: 3 goals scored by strikers

    Three! Just three goals from a strike force of Samir Nurkovic, Leonardo Castro and Lazarous Kambole was a very poor return to say the least. Luckily for Chiefs fans, Khama Billiat (8), Keagan Dolly (8) and Bernard Parker (5) were on hand to help Chiefs finish fifth with 34 goals from 30 matches.

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  • Bonfils-Caleb Bimenyimana Kaizer Chiefsbackpagepix

    The 2022-23 season: 17 goals scored by strikers

    After Chiefs jettisoned the previous season's strikers, they brought in Bonfils-Caleb Bimenyimana and Ashley Du Preez, and promoted Wandile Duba from the youth team. Even though Duba didn't score in his six appearances, both Bimenyimana (8) and Du Preez (9) kept the scoreboard ticking along. However, even with the goal contributions coming from the strikers, Chiefs still finished fifth after scoring two goals less in the PSL (32) than in 2021-22.

  • Ranga Chivaviro, Kaizer ChiefsBackpage

    The 2023-24 season: 11 goals scored by strikers

    Chiefs hit the market yet again to fix things upfront. In came Ranga Chivaviro and Jasond Gonzalez to challenge Ashley Du Preez and Wandile Duba. Gonzalez was a total bust with zero goals in 13 appearances, while Chivaviro managed only four across all competitions.

    Amakhosi slumped to a 10th-place league finish, having only scored 25 goals in 30 matches and alarmingly losing (12) more games than they won (9)

  • Tashreeq Morris, Kaizer Chiefs, January 2025Kaizer Chiefs

    The 2024-25 season: 14 goals scored by strikers

    Chiefs started the season with Ashley Du Preez, Wandile Duba and Ranga Chivaviro as their strike force. They managed just 14 goals between them across all competitions. Panic buttons were duly pressed, and Tashreeq Morris joined in January. 

    The former SuperSport man managed zero goals in 10 appearances as Chiefs spent another season outside the Top 8, finishing ninth with just 25 goals from their 30 matches. But that was almost forgotten as they broke their decade-long trophy drought by winning the Nedbank Cup.

  • Khanyisa Mayo of Kaizer ChiefsBackpagepix

    The 2025-26 season: 3 goals scored by strikers

    Sigh. There were so many reasons for optimism for Amakhosi fans as the season got underway. They'd broken their trophy drought, transfers were streaming in, clean sheets were the order of the day, and they had added Khanyisa Mayo, Flavio Silva and Luke Baartman to the existing striker pool of Ashley Du Preez, Wandile Duba and Tashreeq Morris.

    Despite having SIX strikers at their disposal, Chiefs have scored fewer goals than they have played PSL matches this season, and only Flavio Silva (2) and Khanyisa Mayo (1) have made a goalkeeper pick the ball out of the back of the net.

    Obviously, Amakhosi fans are hopeful that it will soon 'click' for one or more of their frontmen, but recent history suggests that nobody in the Black and Gold will break double digits in the league this year, and they will again be fighting for their right to make the Top 8, rather than winning the league title..

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