Cape Town City announce the signing of Keith Groeneveld

Cape Town City have announced the signing of defender Keith Groeneveld on a five-year deal. 

Groeneveld, 19, was born in South Africa but he left the country to stay with his parents in Belgium as a four-year-old. 

He was on the books of Belgian outfit Standard Liege junior team at the time City came knocking for his signature. 

This means he can feature for the Citizens in the remaining matches of the current campaign as he didn't have a professional contract with Standard Liege. 

Groeneveld played for Belgium U18, but given that he only featured for them in the junior level, he is still eligible to play for South Africa. 

In fact, the young defender was called up to represent Amajita last year, only to find out that his South African passport had expired. 

Amajita head coach Thabo Senong recently included him in his provisional squad for the Fifa U20 World Cup which is set to take place in Poland later this year. 

Groeneveld joined Liege on a three-year deal in 2016, soon after spending a few weeks on trial at Old Trafford with Manchester United. 

Prior to his unsuccessful trial at Manchester United, Groeneveld reportedly turned down an offer to join Arsenal. 

Born in Kimberly, Groeneveld's move to Cape Town City may be seen as an opportunity to familiarize himself with South African football and perhaps catch the eye of national team selectors for future call-ups.