With the PSL transfer window set to close on Tuesday night, SuperSport United midfielder Sipho Mbule continues to be linked with a move to Kaizer Chiefs.
Mbule, together with his SuperSport team-mate and central midfield partner Teboho Mokoena, has been linked with a move to Amakhosi for the better part of a year now.
The 23-year-old Mbule was certainly in sensational form last season with his four goals and six assists in 25 league matches. He appears a class act and a very bright future prospect.
That does not, however, mean that a move to Kaizer Chiefs should be a formality, or even if it’s the best way for him to take his career to the next level.
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For one thing, he might struggle for game-time at Amakhosi.
The Glamour Boys already have a young midfielder in a similar position to Mbule, Nkosingiphile Ngcobo. The two are quite different in playing style, but they are both creative, attack-minded central midfielders who like to push forward and get on the score sheet with goals and assists.
Ngcobo was excellent for Chiefs last season, both in the PSL and in the Caf Champions League, and also forced his way into the Bafana setup.
Fast forward a few months and after quite a bit of business made by his club in the transfer window, Ngcobo can’t get a game. He’s also been dropped from the Bafana squad.
It’s the arrival of another two central midfielders, Cole Alexander and Phathutshedzo Nange, which has seen Ngcobo battling to get onto the park – he’s played just 39 minutes this term.
Keagan Dolly’s arrival may also have set Ngcobo back – there were times last season when he operated very effectively in a playmaker or almost second striker position.
Ngcobo’s partner in crime in the engine room last season, Njabulo Blom, has also been hampered by the arrival of the new men and has found himself shunted to right-back.
Should Mbule move to Chiefs, there’s a danger he could suffer the same fate as Ngcobo – central midfield is not a department the Soweto side are short in.
Even with the departure of Willard Katsande, there are also additional options in Kearyn Baccus, Bernard Parker, Lebogang Manyama and Anthony Agay, although the latter is very much a deep lying holding midfielder.
Mbule should continue to use the platform he has at SuperSport; clearly he has been comfortable shouldering the responsibility of being one of the Pretoria side’s main go-to men.
And if his progress at the club, as well as for Bafana Bafana continues, then perhaps an overseas move could be the way to go for this sublimely talented player.
