Veteran South African midfielder Lebogang Phiri has shed insight on his unsuccessful transfer to Premier Soccer League club Kaizer Chiefs after becoming a free agent.
The 30-year-old was in the books of French Ligue 2 side Guingamp last season, where he made 20 appearances, netted one goal and provided one assist across all competitions before parting ways with the team at the end of the season.
He was linked with a move to Amakhosi, who are currently undergoing a squad overhaul following an underwhelming 2024/25 season, which saw them failing to finish in the top eight.
Chiefs finished ninth on the log with 32 points but managed to return to continental football after winning the Nedbank.
Phiri admitted that talks were held with the Naturena-based team and that he was eager to don the black and gold jersey, but an agreement was never reached.
“I was on call with Bobby Motaung over the years because his son is a friend of mine. So, we kept in contact for the past two to three years,” he said while speaking on Sports Night Amplified With Andile.
“He’s been asking whether it’s time for me to come back home. And I told them that the first thing that I will do is give you a call when I feel like it’s time, which I did before the end of the season, hence I didn’t renew my contract with Guingamp of which they wanted to renew my contract.
Phiri had over 12 years overseas after leaving the Bidvest Wits academy at the age of 17 to join Danish club Brøndby IF. He admitted that he was keen to be part of Amakhosi.
“I was hoping to be part of the preseason squad because I went to the Kaizer Chiefs village to meet up with everyone, and I met up with Kaizer Junior as well.
“And they showed a lot of excitement for a player such as me coming there and wanting to be a part of the family.
“So, I think everything got lost in the negotiations because from that meeting until I spoke to my agent, everything was lost.
“And then I heard rumours around the country when I travel that I want more money, and my question was Kaizer Chiefs never came back to me as supposed to what people are saying.
“I told the club the offer that I would be okay with, so if they felt like it was too much, I feel like you have counteroffers.
“My agent came with numbers that he believes I’m worth at this moment and time, especially that I’m a free agent.
“With the numbers that he put up, I felt like they were decent numbers. Of course, I don’t know the market here (in PSL), and I don’t know the salaries.
“And of course my agent didn’t want to sell me short here in the country or come across as desperate because we weren’t desperate. And the longer it took with regards to not getting an answer, I lost a few clubs abroad because I was hoping for Chiefs.”
The former Bafana Bafana midfielder admitted that he was close to joining Chiefs in 2017 but opted to remain abroad as he felt that he still had more to offer before returning to the country.
“I was keen on Kaizer Chiefs because they came in 2017 in my last six months contract with Brøndby,” he added.
“They came with a contract that was really good for the age that I was coming back home to earn that. It was an excessive amount, but I still had dreams and ambitions of playing abroad hence I declined that offer and went to France.”
With the deal to Chiefs having fallen through, Phiri says he still wants to play in South Africa and is hopeful that something will materialise before the PSL transfer window closes on 22 September.
“They are the reason why I wanted to come back, but we are still awaiting, I mean, the PSL window closes on the 22nd of September.
“We will wait and see which clubs will have a slot for a midfielder of my calibre.”