NTHETHE LEAVING CELTIC?

The Bloemfontein Celtic skipper has displayed consistent performances throughout the season and might have attracted interest from a big PSL giant

After spending his entire professional football career at Bloemfontein Celtic, it is rumoured that Thabo Nthethe will leave the club at the end of the season for a leading Premier Soccer League (PSL) club in Gauteng.

Nthethe, who is the captain at the Bloemfontein outfit, has been solid in the team’s defence which has subsequently seen him receive regular call-ups to the national team, Bafana Bafana. His prolific performances for Celtic this season were surely bound to attract immense interest from the bigger clubs in the PSL and if the rumours are true, he might be donning the black and white Orlando Pirates kit in the new season.

A source close to Nthethe told The Weekly that the player’s representatives at Prosport International have advised him to consider a move to a bigger Gauteng club, in order to further advance his career.

It was also reported in a national Sunday tabloid newspaper, Sunday World, last week that Nthethe is indeed on Pirates’ radar and that the player has openly declared that he wants to play for a bigger club before he retires from football.

The Weekly contacted Prosport International to enquire about Nthethe’s speculated move to Pirates at the end of the season, but the person in charge of player transfers at the agency, Alban Newman, was apparently not available to speak on player transfer matters.

After much persistence from our reporter, the receptionist said the player transfer matters were still confidential at this stage and that Newman has many players to deal with in this regard.

Efforts to get hold of Nthethe for comment also proved futile. Orlando Pirates’ public relations officer, Mickey Modisane, deliberately ignored calls from The Weekly before our reporter could even pose the question of the club’s alleged interest in the player.

Our source, however, based it on good authority that Nthethe will, without a doubt, be leaving the Bloemfontein club for greener pastures in Gauteng and that the player and his family are already preparing to relocate to the province.

Nthethe hinted two months ago that he yearns to advance his career on a bigger platform. He told The Weekly after returning from national duty with Bafana Bafana against the Central African Republic that he feels ready to compete with the best football players in the game.

“I still want to play overseas and compete with the best. To play the way I’ve done, I’ve been wanting to get the chance (sic).”

To chase this desire, Nthethe would then obviously have to leave Celtic for better prospects at a bigger club. Moving to a bigger club does indeed make sense for Nthethe’s career advancement and for greater financial benefits.
He will however be leaving a massive void in the club’s defence department.

Free State teams are renowned for honing the talents of some of the best players the premiership produces every year. At the end of last season, Kaizer Chiefs snatched Mulomowandau Erick Mathoho from Celtic, despite Celtic persistently denying that he might leave the club and join the Soweto giants.

A mannequin dressed in a Chiefs kit bearing Mathoho’s name at the back was later presented by Chiefs at a scheduled media briefing, where the team unveiled its new signings. As largely expected, Mathoho did join Chiefs after the whole charade. Now it seems Nthethe’s transfer move will transpire in a similar manner.

Nthethe is currently one of Celtic’s longest serving players and has attained all his football success at the club. While at Celtic, Nthethe has won three trophies, the SAA Supa 8 (2005), Telkom Charity Cup (2007) and the Telkom Knockout Cup (2012).

He will literally be delving into the unknown should he leave the Bloemfontein club, but stands a good chance of adding more honours to his name if he moves to any of the PSL’s giant clubs that are centralised in Gauteng.
Meanwhile, a lot of changes are looming at Celtic with probable prospective players already going through trials at the club over the past two weeks.

Last week a Nigerian football player went through trials at the club, but failed to make the cut. This was briefly confirmed by the Bloemfontein Celtic coach, Clinton Larsen.

“He is gone back home already. He would be here if I was impressed.”

This week another player from Botswana, Mara Moloi, went through trials at the club and it still to be made known on whether the coach is interested in him or not. Moloi currently plays for the Botswana league log leaders, Mochudi Centre Chiefs. This is the very same team where Celtic bought Joel Mogorosi, who has lived up to his reputation since joining the club at the beginning of the season.

Moloi is currently back in Botswana due to his commitments to his current club, but will apparently return for Celtic’s pre-season training for further evaluation.

Larsen revealed that many players will go through trials and that he would never turn down the opportunity of evaluating potential players for the club.

“They are coming from far and wide; Nigeria Botswana, they are coming from all over. We will continue to look for quality players. I never turn down an opportunity to look at a player because you never know where you are going to find the next big thing. If it comes from a reputable source, I will always look at a player.”

At the end of last season Celtic offloaded a considerable number of players from the squad, effectively trimming the squad to 25 players. Larsen’s justification of the move was that the club’s technical team would be able to manage a smaller group of players more effectively.

The decision seems to have worked out well for his team as they have already won silverware this season and look likely to attain the initial target of finishing in the PSL top five.