Muhsin Ertugral has revealed why Kaizer Chiefs goalkeeper Itumeleng Khune’s move to Europe broke down, saying his genes and the 2010 FIFA World Cup counted against him.
Khune, one of the longest members at Chiefs, was at the top of his game ahead of the World Cup on home soil, having spent a decade at Naturena.
Although Ertugral calls Khune a “trendsetter” for his distribution 101, the former Chiefs coach also says Khune’s height was a challenge.
In edition 149 of iDiski Times newspaper, Ertugral tells Rob Delport that there was interest in Khune from clubs in different European countries and one Sivasspor made an offer for Khune and Siphiwe Tshabalala to Chiefs but the club stood on the line because of the World Cup.
“I remember at the World Cup, when he played in the World Cup when I was analysing for the Turkish team. And everybody, even from Germany, from Italy, in France were talking ‘Wow, I have never seen a goalkeeper do that,’ and it was at that time like revolutionary, 2010,” Ertugral told iDiski Times.
“[They had] never seen goalkeepers that precise in his build-up process. I think it’s been too much minimised about Itu’s possibility, that it was world-class. Itu was a bit unlucky on the height. So this is genetics. If he had been one head taller, he would have played in England or Germany.
“I mean, I was in Turkey with Sivasspor at that time. Remember, before the World Cup, and we made an offer to Kaizer Chiefs, we wanted Itu and [Siphiwe] Tshabalala at that time to Sivasspor. And it was good money that they offered Kaizer Chiefs. Both were sitting between the lines because the World Cup was coming up.
“And so people were saying that Shabba and Itu didn’t have opportunities – no they had opportunities to go, they would have played in the Turkish Premier League. Unfortunately, at the time the World Cup came between.”
