Former Bafana Bafana goalkeeper Brian Baloyi believes Kaizer Chiefs are struggling to sign quality players because of their poor relationships with other clubs.
Amakhosi have faced challenges in the transfer market in recent years, with the Soweto giants often struggling to secure their preferred targets.
The club has previously pointed to inflated transfer fees as one of the obstacles when attempting to sign players from rival teams.
Baloyi, who spent more than a decade at Chiefs, believes the club needs to improve its relationships with other teams to negotiate better deals and strengthen its squad.
“I think for me, the biggest thing with Chiefs is their relationship with other clubs. It is very important if you want to make transactions, like buying and loaning players. Within the club, they must find someone who has relationships with other teams,” he said on SoccerBeat.
“That person will be responsible for signing and loaning players. It could be a technical director or sporting director, but you need a relationship to make successful transfers.”
Baloyi believes Chiefs have lost some of their effectiveness in the transfer market over the past two years. He pointed to the role previously played by football manager Bobby Motaung, who he feels was more successful at negotiating player deals.
“I think looking at the last two years, Chiefs have lost that. I don’t want to take anyone back to Bobby, but in terms of player transactions, he used to do a better job. He used to have relationships in Zimbabwe and other countries, but looking now, Chiefs are struggling to sign players,” Baloyi added.
Kaizer Motaung Jr has taken on a more prominent role in the club’s player recruitment, but Baloyi believes Amakhosi need to rebuild their connections within the local football fraternity.
Baloyi on Kaizer Chiefs’ Seluleko Mahlambi pursuit
The issue of transfer negotiations recently came into focus after TS Galaxy chairman Tim Sukazi revealed that Chiefs had made an offer of R4 million for Seluleko Mahlambi, while the player was valued at R10 million.
Baloyi believes Amakhosi should have continued negotiations rather than allowing disagreements over the asking price to become a stumbling block.
“If you speak to Tim Sukazi, make an offer and he rejects it, you should return and negotiate. You can do that only if you build relationships. It seems they don’t have relationships with other clubs today,” he said.
According to Baloyi, establishing stronger relationships with other clubs could be key to securing Chiefs’ preferred transfer targets in future windows.