Cape Town Spurs Chief Executive Officer Alexi Efstathiou has sent a strong message to the teams interested in their players.
In the past few weeks, there have been rumors of Spurs duo Asanele Velebayi and Chumani Butsaka, who have been heavily linked with a move away from the club.
There were offers for both players but they were rejected, as they didn’t meet what Spurs value the players at.
The Urban Warriors are known as one of the best development teams in the country, having developed a multitude of professional players since their existence.
Speaking with iDiski Times, Efstathiou mentioned that they know and understand the value of their players, as this is not the first time they have been involved with transfer of players from the club.
“We understand our business, we understand the value of our players and the quality they will bring to any club. I see the comments because [we want more money because] it’s Chiefs, [but] as asking for so much money had nothing to do with it – if Manchester United phones us tomorrow we would ask for the same price, it doesn’t matter it’s what we value the players at,” Alexi told iDiski Times when asked about Velebayi, insisting Amakhosi have been told the asking price of the player.
“People talk, as if we don’t know what we’re doing. The current owners and board of the club have been in the NSL for 29 consecutive years, the most after Chiefs and Pirates. I don’t know of any other ownership of teams in the NSL that can boast about 29 years of consistent ownership?“
Efstathiou also explained that for the club to develop a player from the age of 12 to 21 , sometimes longer or shorter, which they have been doing over all these years, it costs them between R8 million and R12.5 million per player.
He emphasised that as a club they must bear the fruits of that development process when teams are interested in their talents like Velebayi and Butsaka.
“We’ve done what we’ve done, you need to do what you need to do from your side,” he added.
“We have a contract with the players. We’ve developed them as players and it is now the club’s opportunity to bear the fruits of that development process that in this case took 10 years to do.
“The club won’t be held at ransom by anyone.”
