The 28-year-old future with Amakhosi has been hanging in the balance as his contract renewal negotiations with the club have hit a deadlock.
'Pule' is currently playing the waiting game as his existing contract expires at the end of the season, and he is said to be unhappy with the money being offered by the club.
READ: Chiefs trio set for club exit
In almost a similar story in the year 2000, Lekoelea held former team Pirates to ransom demanding a close to R1-million signing-on fee plus a R30 000 monthly salary or that he be released on a free.
"Ekstein wants money, is that so? Let them give him money so he can continue with his performance," Lekoelea tells snl24.com/kickoff.
"They must give him money because he is performing. Him and Chiefs must talk so he can continue playing there. They are treating him well there at Chiefs as you can also see they are struggling as it is. So if he leaves, their midfield will struggle. They must speak to him so he can stay.
"They must give him the money. They must not allow him to leave. This thing of statistics saying he created so many chances and so many goals is not working, they must look at what he does on the field. They must forget about the statistics, he is a good player and he's still young and he will grow with this game.
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"This is what kills the standard of football here at home, because they will compare you with somebody, which is not fair. Ekstein is Ekstein, [Mandla] Masango is Masango, Steve Lekoelea is Steve Lekoelea, Jabu Pule is Jabu Pule that's all, no one will be like him.
"Ekstein is one, even if he can die there will never be another Ekstein... this thing of saying this boy reminds us of so and so... every time Ekstein plays they say he reminds them of who? Jabu, is that so? That's what they say. He will never be like Jabu. Ekstein plays his own game, they must just give him money that's all.
"Chiefs made a mistake with Reneilwe saying he is old, and he went to SuperSport [United] and performed. I know they will say Ekstein is big-headed now. That's what they will be saying just because he wants money.
"No! It's time. He also wants a family, he must support his family. How is he going to support it if they give him little money? This guy is a professional player, he must earn good money. Tomorrow they are going to say 'hey he doesn't have money, he ate all his money, he misused it' not knowing that he earned little money.
"I'm saying he must talk to Chiefs and Chiefs must talk to him, he is a good player, he is at the right place there at Chiefs, they must just give him the money so their good relationship can continue."
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