Cele relishing 2025/26 season

Kaizer Chiefs midfielder, Thabo Cele, is eager to work with his new teammates in the 2025/26 season as he believes the club has signed quality players who will bolster Amakhosi.

Ethan Chislett, Flavio Silva, Nkanyiso Shinga, Thabiso Monyane, Paseka Mako and Siphesihle Ndovu are some of the new players at Chiefs.

Cele, who joined Chiefs in January, says they are all fitting in very well.

“It was important for the new guys to come in and we know they’re quality and they’re going to add value in our team,” said Cele ahead of Chiefs’ Toyota Cup friendly clash against Ghanaian giants, Asante Kotoko, at the Moses Mabhida Stadium on Saturday.

“For me, seeing what I am seeing in my own perspective, I feel the new players also understand the mission. We are gelling beautifully and there’s positivity around the team, not fake positivity. I feel it’s real because in the Netherlands we had tough games and we got tested. It is in true tests that you really see and feel the team. I feel we became more together and we know the mission.”

The match in Durban will kick off at 3pm.

Amakhosi open their Betway Premiership campaign with an away fixture against Stellenbosch FC at the Athlone Stadium on August 10.

For Cele coming back to play Kotoko in Durban, where he’s from and where Chiefs ended an unprecedented famine of 10 years by beating their Soweto arch-rivals Orlando Pirates, is exciting. Written by Ntsako Mkhari