South Africa men's national team head coach Hugo Broos is not a fan of defender Mbekezeli Mbokazi's move to Major League Soccer side Chicago Fire FC, saying the Bafana Bafana youngster should have chosen a better team.
Mbokazi, who is barely out of his teens, signed for Chicago from Orlando Pirates earlier this month, and Broos, who recently named Mbokazi in his squad for the Africa Cup of Nations, was displeased.
Broos said to the media: "I'll tell you what I think, no [it's not a good move], what is he going to do there?
"It's not even a cup team in America, if my info is right, he's going to play in the MLS 2 at the second team of Chicago, I don't know if it's true, I'll ask him when I see him. That's even worse.
"But I know what happened, that woman who's his agent [Basia Michaels] and thinks he knows football is doing what many agents are doing. It's how much they can get.
"If she's a little bit clever, she should know that AFCON and World Cup are coming next year, there could have been better teams that he can go to and not Chicago."
Not everyone is as critical of the move to the US, with Pirates winger Oswin Appollis saying that the deal will motivate other players in South Africa to work harder and earn moves overseas.
Appollis said, per FarPost: "It's a motivation for all the players. It took him, I think, a year or nine months for him to get the move. He deserves it.
"As you can see, as young as he is, he's a grown man, technical, defending and everything. I just want to wish him all the best. He deserves it, and I know he will do well in Chicago."
Mbokazi will link up with The Men in Red after the AFCON in Morocco, which runs from Dec 21 2025 to Jan 18 2026.