JOHANNESBURG - Kaizer Chiefs have confirmed the signing of defender, Mario Booysen, with his arrival seen as Amakhosi potentially throwing in the towel on forcing Bloemfontein Celtic to release Lorenzo Gordinho early from his loan spell.
Booysen, 30, signed a two-year deal with an option to renew for a further 12 months and joins from Ajax Cape Town, who were relegated to the NFD last season. He becomes the second player to sign for Chiefs today following the arrival of striker Lebogang Manyama earlier on Wednesday.
Chiefs are still hopeful of getting defender Gordinho back from his loan agreement with Celtic in January, but the Free State based side are adamant that the player will only leave in the first month of the new year as per contract.
Gordinho was part of the deal that saw midfielder Kabelo Mahlasela go the other way, but Amakhosi are desperate to have him rejoin them given their poor start to the season. Chiefs have conceded five goals in three Absa Premiership matches and coach Giovanni Solinas feels he has somewhat of a crisis on his hands in defence.
Booysen is also a former Mamelodi Sundowns and SuperSport United player, so he comes with a lot of experience. Chiefs footballer manager Bobby Motaung also told IOL Sport earlier today that the Glamour Boys have agreed a deal with Ugandan international centreback Godfrey Walusimbi from Gor Mahia in Kenya, but the official announcement had not been made yet when this story was being published.
There is still a slight chance that Gordinho could be a Chiefs player again before the end of the year, although highly unlikely. His agent has written to Celtic requesting the settlement of monies owed, the deadline set for sometime in September. Fifa rules have recently been amended to allow a player to terminate his contract with a club if his salary has not been paid for at least two months.
We would like to confirm the signing of Mario Booysen. Welcome to the Kaizer Chiefs Family #HeIsHere #HailTheChief #Amakhosi4Life pic.twitter.com/X8EQln7aTK
— Kaizer Chiefs (@KaizerChiefs) August 22, 2018
But with new owners set to take over from Max Tshabalala at Celtic, a club that has struggled financially for the last few months by the owner’s admission, officials are confident they will be able to hold on to Gordinho until January 2019. They have also claimed the player is happy to continue working with coach Steve Komphela, the pair having been at Chiefs together for nearly three years.
New jersey number 21 #HeIsHere #HailTheChief #Amakhosi4Life pic.twitter.com/Xc1D2x3IBn
— Kaizer Chiefs (@KaizerChiefs) August 22, 2018
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