Sibongiseni Mthethwa appears not to be in Nasreddine Nabi's immediate plans ahead of the new season for Kaizer Chiefs.
On the eve of the transfer window closing, Chiefs succumbed to pressure from supporters to sign a big name last season, signing Mthethwa from Stellenbosch FC.
Although Ox has been hailed as a signing, he presents the technical team with a dilemma in midfield, as he is a number six who sits in front of the defense and mainly breaks up play.
He compromised how the Soweto giants played by making them too defensive, with little creativity in the center of the park, after they paid around R10 million to trigger his release clause at Stellies.
It is important that Nabi fixes the club's style of play, and with the Tunisian favouring possession and attacking football, the midfielder's role could become obsolete, especially after the return of Njabulo Blom.
Given the game model proposed by Nabi and the return of Blom, who plays box to box, the number six role has been under review, according to Sporting Director Kaizer Motaung Jr.
As soon as the technical staff started, we were very clear about the game model they wanted to set up, the style of play we wanted to play, and the type of players we needed. We knew from the beginning, even before we traveled to Turkey, which positions we wanted to strengthen," Motaung Jr said to Newzroom Afrika.
We had many players on our squad audit list, and of course Njabulo was one who was there. Given the style of play we wanted to inject into the team, position six was one that was crucial. As a family member, Njabulo has always been monitored.
I think it was just a matter of great timing, and, of course, he had a different direction he wanted to take in the MLS," said Motaung Jr.
According to Soccer Laduma, Mthethwa is being considered for a loan move, but he isn't in Nabi's immediate plans.
During his first game in charge, the former AS FAR Rabat coach preferred Samkelo Zwane and Yusuf Maart in midfield, who, together with Edson Castillo, appear to be ahead of Mthethwa in Chiefs' pecking order.
