Midfielder George Maluleka has made some surprise revelations about his controversial exit from Kaizer Chiefs to rivals Mamelodi Sundowns in 2020.
In a club statement published their website on 11 March 2020, Chiefs announced that lengthy talks over a new contract with Maluleka's representatives had come to an end as the player had revealed that he had signed a pre-contract with Sundowns.
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The news sent shockwaves across the football community and the player himself was on the receiving end of sharp criticism from the Khosi Nation.
He was asked to leave Chiefs on June 30, at the expiry of his contract, although the season would only end in September, having been delayed due to the COVID pandemic.
Meanwhile, the Soweto giants lost the league title to The Brazilians on the very last day of the season.
I will never forgive Manuel Kambala for what he did to Kaizer chiefs on the 5th of September 2020 after 59 minutes of the game ???? pic.twitter.com/rt9svod35a
— MZulu wa Limpopo (@KabeloMohlah02) January 25, 2024
The five-time league champions went on to stay two years at Chloorkop, before then joining AmaZulu FC.
Speaking on 947's MSW, the Tembisa-born star insisted he had failed to agree on terms with Chiefs and would have preferred to stay at least until the end of that campaign.
"The timing? I can't say it was right or wrong. It wasn't my decision to make, to be honest," reflected Maluleka.
"It happened and that's just how it went down. It was my decision to go to Sundowns but not at that point.
"If you remember, there was still at that [bio-]bubble and I couldn't be involved in the bubble because of the offer that was made on the other side.
"I won trophies at Chiefs, I won trophies at SuperSport [United], I just missed out on Ajax [Cape Town]. So, I won trophies at Chiefs, it had nothing to do with the offer [being too good].
"I wanted to finish what I had started, which was to win the league, and then move, and that couldn't happen unfortunately.
"It was unfortunate because we couldn't agree on terms.
"I don't what to say it was supposed to happen that way, but that year, we were supposed to win the league as Kaizer Chiefs since I was there.
"But ja, I left and it didn't happen and a lot of people say it was because of me, which is fine. I understand and I also try and explain to them that there's a lot of players, there were a lot of us. It's a team sport, it's team-based.
"I did contribute my bit for that season and my agent couldn't agree on terms unfortunately," added the midfielder.
Maluleka is currently a free agent but insists he still has at least two years of professional football left in his legs before calling time on his career.