Polish side Górnik Zabrze couldn’t meet Cape Town City’s asking prize for Emile Witbooi and the 18-year-old looks set to stay at the club.
Witbooi, who turned 18 last week, has been one of the main talking points in the South African transfer window, with several clubs – both locally and abroad – linked with him.
Locally – Orlando Pirates were understood to be after the 18-year-old after Relebohile Mofokeng went to join Belgian side Royale Union Saint-Gilloise.
But the Buccaneers only enquired about Witbooi, and decided to walk away after they were informed that City have set his asking prize at around R20 million.
Abroad – Polish side Zabrze, which is co-owned by former Germany World Cup winner Lukas Podolski, showed interest and submitted a bid of €800 000 (R15 million).
But it was rejected by CTC, stating that their asking prize is €1 million (R18 million to R20 million). Zabrze were expected to come back with an improved offer but they couldn’t meet CTC’s demands.
This publication also understands that unnamed Major League Soccer teams enquired about the availability of Witbooi but nothing materialised.
With the Polish transfer window closing in two days’ time Witbooi’s move to Zabrze seems not happening, while the MLS transfer window closed on 2 September, which means that the 18-year-old seems to be staying put.
Witbooi has remained professional despite the rumors around a potential transfer, as he has been delivering top performances already.
The South African junior international produced an assist in CTC’s 2-1 win over Hungry Lions, with chairman John Comitis banking on him to help the club push for promotion back to the Betway Premiership.