Durban — Kaizer Chiefs striker Samir Nurkovic is being strongly linked with a move to Durban based club Royal AM. The 29-year-old has had a disastrous season with Amakhosi and has only scored one league goal to date.
It appears likely that he will be one of the players who depart Chiefs at the end of the season as the club looks to rebuild ahead of next season.
Royal AM have been one of the surprise packages of the season and the Chatsworth Stadium based club have a strong chance of finishing second this term. Should they finish second, they will qualify for next season’s CAF Champions League. A third place finish would earn them entry to the CAF Confederation Cup.
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Should Nurkovic move to Royal AM, he could be a potential replacement for Victor Letsoalo. Bafana Bafana’s Letsoalo has been impressive in the league this season, having scored 14 league goals to date and he has been linked with a big-money move to Chiefs.
Royal AM CEO Sinky Mnisi has previously said that his club will be open to selling Letsoalo if a good offer arrives.
"We told them [Chiefs] that we are very open to selling the player but they must give us an offer that we will never reject.
"If Kaizer Chiefs want Victor Letsoalo, who is the top striker in South Africa other than Peter Shalulile, they must pay the money that he is worth, because he’s scoring goals,” said Mnisi.
While Nurkovic has not had the best of seasons, he could potentially use a fresh start as a means to revive his career. The Serbian has also proven that he is capable of scoring all types of goals and against any team in his stint with Chiefs. He was also a feared striker and arguably the most clinical finisher in the Chiefs setup prior to this season.
Maduka has proven that he can revive the careers of players as he did with Thabo Matlaba who has been one of Royal AM’s best performers this season at the age of 34.
Royal AM have also proven that they are not shy to sign star names as they signed former Mamelodi Sundowns defender Ricardo Nascimento earlier this year.
Nurkovic is not exactly an old player and still has the ingredients required to score goals at the highest level in South Africa. Should he move to Royal AM, the challenge that Maduka’s side will face is helping the player to reinvent himself according to his own strengths and weaknesses so that he can start scoring at the highest level again.
Independent Media contacted Mnisi and another source close to the club who played down the rumours linking Nurkovic to Royal AM as did Kaizer Chiefs Communications Manager Vina Maphosa.
“The player is still with Chiefs and it’s not our policy to comment on the details of his future. If there are players leaving the club, we’ll comment at the end of the season,” said Maphosa.
IOL Sport