Soweto giants, Kaizer Chiefs and defensive midfielder Njabulo Blom should sit down and find common ground on a new and improved deal for the player. This is according to club legend Robert Nauseb.
Amidst ongoing wage disputes, reports in the media have been rife that Blom could end up leaving the Naturena-based outfit for free when the 2022/23 DStv Premiership season comes to a close after negotiations reportedly broke down in September.
Blom, 22, will enter the final six months of his current contract at the Glamour Boys come January, which means he will be eligible to sign a pre-contract elsewhere, and leave for nothing at the end of June, without Chiefs having cashed in a player they developed.
Since being promoted to Amakhosi’s first team in 2019, Blom has been an ever-present figure under the likes of Gavin Hunt, Stuart Baxter and currently Arthur Zwane.
Chiefs’ attitude has been blamed for the contract impasse between the club and the player’s camp, with renowned agent Rob Moore going as far as accusing the club of offering his client peanuts, despite the player’s impressive performances.
Speaking to ThisIsFootball.Africa from Windhoek, Namibia, Nauseb urged his former club to do what they can to hold on to the player.
“First of all, if we have a realistic look at the performance the boy gave in the past few games he has started for Chiefs, he’s obviously shown what type of a quality player he is,” he said.
“As a club legend, my thinking is that losing a player of his calibre will leave a big hole in our midfield. So my comment on that will be to let the team [Chiefs] and the boy’s agent meet halfway and make the right decision.
“Look, this is the player’s future and that’s the number one thing that we are talking about. He may leave Chiefs and not be happy wherever he goes. He can earn the money. But you go there and you don’t play and then you are not gonna be happy either.
“And he may stay at Chiefs and not be happy with the salary he’s getting, you understand. I understand the point of Chiefs. They have developed the player, you understand, but I don’t want to make an example with other players at the club.
“I would rather say let the agent and the club meet halfway and find the best solution for the boy.”
The 48-year-old former Namibian international, who formed part of a hugely successful Chiefs outfit between 1997 and 2001, aiding their triumph in the 1998 Rothmans Cup and the 2000 Bob Save Super Bowl, admitted that he understood from a financial perspective how things work of late in football, but that he would equally be devastated if the player exited the club.
“At the end of the day football is business. That very same player is rendering his services to Chiefs, so what the agent wants for the player is not wrong.
“The agent wants what’s best for the player, the same way the club also wants what’s best for the player.
“If the player leaves, just like many Chiefs fans, I will not be happy.
“But look, I’m confident that the boy will stay. I know that the deal will be done for the player,” he concluded.
Following the resumption of football in Namibia, Nauseb and former Mamelodi Sundowns goalkeeper Ronnie Kanalelo have taken up a new project where they head up the assistant and head coach roles respectively at UNAM FC in the Namibian Premier League.
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