‘I regret disappointing Bobby’: Former Chiefs star opens up about Kaizer Chiefs departure.
Former Kaizer Chiefs star George Lebese has revealed the reason that led to him walking out on the club an sealing a move Mamelodi Sundowns.
Lebese joined Chiefs in 2008 from Arcadia Shepherds, and went on to have a fruitful career in Naturena and played a key role in helping the club win the league title in 2012-13, and 2014-15.
After struggling for game time under Steve Komphela in 2017, Lebese shocked Chiefs fans everywhere by moving to Mamelodi Sundowns. His time at Sundowns was not a happy, however, and he left after just two years for the United States after an unsuccessful loan spell with SuperSport United.
He eventually hung up his boots after his spell with American side Colorado Springs Switchbacks came to an abrupt end in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic that affected all sport across the globe.
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Speaking to Robert Marawa’s MSW on 947 revealed the real reason for leaving Amakhosi, who had offered him more money than Sundowns
“I could see I was not going to play,” Lesebe said, referencing to Komphela’s decision to sideline him during the campaign.
Lebese also said he was influenced by someone who was “supposed to be taking care” of his career into completing the move to Sundowns.
“For whatever reason, I think he was getting more on the other side [Sundowns] than a renewal. I would never known. But he pushed me in a way that … you know when someone pushes you, but you end up saying the words he wants you to say. He’s not saying them; you must say them. So that was the kind of push. And also, coming from a young age supporting Sundowns – all those factors – wanting to make the family happy. It came in at the right moment…”
The 36-year-old Lebese then spoke about how he let Chiefs’ football manager Bobby Motaung down by rejecting the club’s offer in favour of the one from Sundowns.
“I still remember our last conversation vividly when he put a paper [a renewal contract]. I was sitting across from him. And I said to him, ‘I’m not renewing’. I still remember how his face looked. He was in shock because he didn’t see that coming.
“Looking back at how things happened, it was like, ‘What have I done to this human being that has changed my life?’. I’ve always been apologetic about it. I sent him a message, I think, two weeks after I signed. I sent him messages to apologise. I met with him once. I apologised again. I feel like that’s one person that I’ve disappointed immensely.”
