Edson Daniel Castillo Garcia was enticed to Kaizer Chiefs by the influence of money in making the decision to become one of few Venezuelans to ever play in South Africa.
Castillo will become only the third Venezuelan to play for Chiefs after Jose Torrealba and Gustavo Paez and will arrive at Naturena imminently later this week.
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The 29-year-old has signed a two-year deal with an option of a further year with his package vastly improving from what he has been earning at Monagas SC in the Venezuelan Primera Division.
Castillo arrives having played in the 2023 Copa Libertadores group stages.
Chiefs have been following Castillo for several months which is why he only signed a short-term deal with his previous club Monagas SC.
"When I came to Pirates in 1988, I was earning the best salary in Africa, so I supposed it is going to be the same for this Venezuelan lad," says former Orlando Pirates winger Camilo Freitas who is of Brazilian origin.
Freitas came just prior to Pio Nogueira who went on to leave a huge mark on the domestic scene.
"The money is good for him at Chiefs.
"Being a player who has even played for his national team it makes sense that he be paid good money.
"To travel all the way from Venezuela to South Africa the money must be good," says Freitas.
The last South American to play for Chiefs – Leonardo Castro – was on a package of R6,5 million per annum.
"I was earning better than all the local guys through my short time at the club.
"I don't think there was anyone earning better than me at the time in South Africa.
"Then the issue that came up was that my teammates didn't want to pass me the ball during one game against Kaizer Chiefs.
"Maybe the issue was that I was staying at a hotel and eating well while they were staying at their respective homes.
"In my case the only issue was that on the first day I arrived in South Africa there was a bomb that exploded two blocks away from my hotel and killed several people.
"That wasn't the kind of start that you want on your first night in a new country.
"I was staying at a nice hotel in the middle of Johannesburg," says Freitas.
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