Kaizer Chiefs coach Stuart Baxter has confirmed that Itumeleng Khune will captain the Glamour Boys in the new season.
The Amakhosi coach will go into his fourth campaign with Chiefs and his first since leaving the club back in 2015.
Khune was Chiefs’ captain in 2020/21 but he spent large parts of the campaign in the sidelines, with the likes of Ramahlwe Mphahlele, Samir Nurkovic and Bernard Parker standing in for the goalkeeper during parts of 2020/21
Baxter, though, insisted that Khune will continue to carry the armband in 2021/22.
“We had a discussion around this the other day and the club captain will be Itu,” he told reporters.
“Club captain, meaning whenever he plays he’s captain, whenever he doesn’t play, he’s still club captain. It doesn’t change that he is the voice of the squad and he is the go to man, now that will not change.”
Baxter, however, didn’t want to confirm who will be the vice-captains, saying he wants all his players to be leaders.
“Apart from that, we wanted a captain for the team, we want all players to take responsibility. We want all players to have a voice, we want all players to be confident enough to help their teammates,” he added.
“Now, we’re talking about a senior player or a player that has been outstanding or a player that has clearly shown leadership qualities. Now that one, we might see against Sundowns but we want to be a captain-full team with people that are there to take the pressure, are there to take responsibility, there to have a voice and dare to express themselves.
“I think if you get lots of players good enough, the armband can almost go to anybody.”
Chiefs will open their campaign against TS Galaxy on Sunday.
