Coach Slams ‘Not So Clever’ Agent for Rushing South Africa’s Biggest Prospect into MLS Move

South Africa coach Hugo Broos has hit out at the agent of young defender Mbekezeli Mbokazi for orchestrating his move to MLS club Chicago Fire.

Mbokazi sealed a transfer to Chicago Fire from Orlando Pirates at the start of December and he will move to America after the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations.

However, that transfer has divided opinion in South Africa as some feel one of the country’s biggest football prospects should have been patient and waited for a club in Europe and not rush to the MLS, which is not considered one of the top leagues in the world.

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Broos is among those who do not approve the transfer but he thinks the player’s agent is to blame, claiming Mbokazi’s representatives were looking at their own interest and not the player’s.

“I think, no [it’s not a good move]. What is he going to do in Chicago?” Broos said on Wednesday regarding the player’s transfer to the MLS as per Afrik-Foot.

“It’s not even a cup team in America. If my info is right, they told me he’s playing MLS2, at the second team of Chicago – if it’s true, I don’t know I will ask him when I see him. That is even worse.

“But I know what happened, a woman who is his agent and thinks she knows football is doing what many agents are doing and thinking ‘how much can I get’. If she is a little bit clever, she knows there is AFCON and next year it’s World Cup, that there will be other teams, better for his career, to go to and not to Chicago.

“What is he going to do there alone there in a big city like that? So no, I don’t think it’s a good choice.”

The player’s agent Basia Michaels had defended the transfer last week, saying the Chicago deal is the best she received for the highly-rated defender as she had been offered just €150,000 from a European club when the MLS side are believed to be paying $3 million.