Kaizer Chiefs midfielder Njabulo Blom will not be joining SuperSport United in the near future.
This was revealed by club CEO Stan Matthews to SABC Sport.
The 22-year-old Bafana Bafana international, has been heavily linked with Matsatsantsa after news emerged that contract extension talks between him and Chiefs have hit a snag.
Matthews has now ruled the Tshwane side out of the running for the midfielder due to financial reasons.
“Blom is a very good player, someone our coach [Gavin Hunt] knows well and respects highly. But he is a Chiefs player and a player on a wage bracket that, for us, isn’t in our range. It’s a non-starter,” the Matsatsantsa boss explained.
“Njabulo Blom is not an option to play for SuperSport United at all – there’s nothing more to discuss about it.”
“Even on a free,” he added. “We’ve got quite a clear funding model at SuperSport that we’ve settled on and have to operate within. That means getting players that we can afford, that can stay at the club and grow in an upward trajectory.
“We have to stay true to our funding model and that means respecting the wage brackets at the club – what we can and can’t pay players. We are not in a position and we won’t be in a position to jeopardise our stability by overpaying for players with money we don’t have.”
Matthews believes Chiefs will soon face competition from Orlando Pirates and Mamelodi Sundowns for Blom’s signature if they fail to tie him to a new contract. But
“He’s going to be a player that the big three are going to fight over, and we can’t go into that war – I can’t go into a gunfight with a pocket knife. We have a different model of recruiting and identifying players.
“That means respecting the budget parameters my shareholders have even me. We simply can’t afford Blom, and I feel terrible even talking about a player that belongs to Chiefs. We have never been contenders to sign him, there’s no real prospect of him ever playing for the club,” Matthews insisted.
