Chiefs net striker Radebe
Chiefs net striker Radebe

Posted in News on Aug 13, 2002.

It was a case of one down, one to go as Castle Premiership side Kaizer Chiefs announced the signing of former Free State Stars striker David Radebe on Wednesday.

Radebe, who signed a two-year deal with an option for a third season, might rank as a small fish among the local supporters after being restricted to the bench due to injuries last season.

His first unofficial match will be in a friendly against Manning Rangers on Friday.

Radebe is one of the two strikers that Amakhosi have been targeting.

The second marksman - Amakhosi's most anticipated signing of the season - comes in the form of an international described as "a sharpshooter with a huge appetite for scoring goals" and his deal is expected to go through before the start of the new season.

But for now attention is on the slightly built Radebe who made waves in his first season at the Free State side, scoring 12 goals in 22 appearances. However, he was not so lucky last season as he was bogged down by injuries and only made 17 appearances with three goals.

Amakhosi have been in the transfer market looking for a good finisher in the pre-season. Their bid to sign another former Stars player, Jimmy Kauleza, drew blanks as archrivals Orlando Pirates beat them in the race.

"David has been with us for 10 days now and I am very impressed,” said Ertugral. “He is a very good prospect and his movement off the ball is just amazing. He is the kind of a striker we have been looking for as he suits our style of play just perfectly.”

Ertugral described Radebe as a hardworking and dedicated striker who was not too well known due to the injuries he suffered last season.

"We are now in the process of finalising a deal with an international striker,” said Ertugral.

"It was a tough battle to secure his services as a number of top local clubs were also after him. He also had offers from Belgium but we managed to convince him to join us. For this I am very thankful to the president (Kaizer Motaung) and I am sure the supporters will not be disappointed."

Two Ghanaian strikers from Asante Kotoko were invited for trials but, after a week, the Chiefs coaching staff were not impressed and they were sent back home. Asante, who participated in this year’s pre-season Vodacom Challenge tournament, recommended the two to Chiefs.

Chiefs were reportedly interested in Manning Rangers target man Gilbert Mushangazhike but the player was, according to sources, priced out of the market and this scared the Naturena side off.

The Amakhosi strikers disappointed last season - most of the goals coming from attacking midfielder Jabu Pule - and this prompted the club to start searching for a goal grabber. The Glamour Boys started strengthening their weak strike force with the recall of Sydney Moshikaro from Ria Stars.

But the lanky Moshikaro, who spent most of the time on the bench at the Limpopo side, is unlikely to feature in the first half of the season due lack of match fitness.

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