{"id":35296,"date":"2025-12-02T20:59:25","date_gmt":"2025-12-02T18:59:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.yfm.co.za\/devworld\/?p=35296"},"modified":"2025-12-02T20:59:38","modified_gmt":"2025-12-02T18:59:38","slug":"mbokazis-us-move-confirmed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.yfm.co.za\/devworld\/2025\/12\/02\/mbokazis-us-move-confirmed\/","title":{"rendered":"Mbokazi\u2019s US move confirmed"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_35297\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-35297\" style=\"width: 770px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-35297\" src=\"https:\/\/www.yfm.co.za\/devworld\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/WhatsApp-Image-2025-12-02-at-19.49.39-770x513.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"770\" height=\"513\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.yfm.co.za\/devworld\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/WhatsApp-Image-2025-12-02-at-19.49.39-770x513.jpeg 770w, https:\/\/www.yfm.co.za\/devworld\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/WhatsApp-Image-2025-12-02-at-19.49.39-1170x780.jpeg 1170w, https:\/\/www.yfm.co.za\/devworld\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/WhatsApp-Image-2025-12-02-at-19.49.39-768x512.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/www.yfm.co.za\/devworld\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/WhatsApp-Image-2025-12-02-at-19.49.39.jpeg 1280w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 770px) 100vw, 770px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-35297\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Photo credit: Backpagepix<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Orlando Pirates have confirmed that defender, Mbekezeli Mbokazi, will join Major League Soccer (MLS) side Chicago Fire.<\/p>\n<p>The 20-year-old Pirates vice captain has secured a lucrative January transfer to the United States of America, reportedly valued at $3 million, following a steady rise since joining the Buccaneers.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Chicago Fire FC today announced that the Club has acquired defender Mbekezeli Mbokazi from Orlando Pirates of South Africa\u2019s Betway Premiership,\u201d the MLS side said in a statement.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Mbokazi will occupy a U-22 initiative slot and an international roster position, and his contract will run through 2029, with a Club option for the 2029\/30 season. Per Club and MLS Policy, terms of the deal were not disclosed.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Mbokazi, joined the Pirates reserve team in 2023 while playing for Langalibalele Sports Academy in the Engen U19 Knockout Tournament, and made his professional debut in the final stretch of last season under then-coach, Jose Riveiro.<\/p>\n<p>The defender previously won the U20 COSAFA Cup, which qualified South Africa for the Africa Cup of Nations in Egypt. He has since progressed to the senior national team under head coach Hugo Broos, earning five caps.<\/p>\n<p>He also won the 2025\/26 MTN 8 Cup with the Pirates, defending their title with a 3-0 win against Stellenbosch.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">\ud835\udc0c\ud835\udc1b\ud835\udc28\ud835\udc24\ud835\udc1a\ud835\udc33\ud835\udc22 \ud835\udc2d\ud835\udc28 \ud835\udc09\ud835\udc28\ud835\udc22\ud835\udc27 <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ChicagoFire?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@ChicagoFire<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\ud83d\udcbb Full Details: <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/X6csES4mwk\">https:\/\/t.co\/X6csES4mwk<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u26ab\u26aa\ud83d\udd34\u2b50<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/OrlandoPirates?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#OrlandoPirates<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/OnceAlways?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#OnceAlways<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/cfPBQwOQGK\">pic.twitter.com\/cfPBQwOQGK<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Orlando Pirates (@orlandopirates) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/orlandopirates\/status\/1995877781582827551?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">December 2, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Welcome to Chicago, TLB! \ud83d\udc4b\ud83c\uddff\ud83c\udde6<\/p>\n<p>We have acquired defender Mbekezeli Mbokazi from Orlando Pirates of South Africa\u2019s Betway Premiership. <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/cf97?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#cf97<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/ZXPd1SwlWo\">pic.twitter.com\/ZXPd1SwlWo<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Chicago Fire FC (@ChicagoFire) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ChicagoFire\/status\/1995870751694704931?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">December 2, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Some South Africans have congratulated Mbokazi on the move.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Day 1 Mbokazi in USA \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8 when they give him Spaghetti \ud83c\udf5d \ud83d\ude2d\ud83d\ude2d <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/K1OmHYzHRX\">pic.twitter.com\/K1OmHYzHRX<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 ChrisExcel (@ChrisExcel102) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ChrisExcel102\/status\/1995900466836754677?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">December 2, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Let&#8217;s wish Mbekezeli Mbokazi all the best, buccaneers. The boy has certainly made his mark in the club in short period of time. \u2620\ufe0f\u2620\ufe0f\u2620\ufe0f <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/pHzAD1trdl\">pic.twitter.com\/pHzAD1trdl<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 STAR. (@makwande_m) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/makwande_m\/status\/1995905378106614017?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">December 2, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Make your family and yourself proud. Go test yourself out there, keep developing.<\/p>\n<p>Leave those one&#8217;s there at Orlando Pirates with their polo&#8217;s and suzuki&#8217;s and go get yourself RS3.<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/OnceAlways?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#OnceAlways<\/a><br \/>\nYoung man with a big future,Mbekezeli Mbokazi\ud83d\udcaa\ud83d\udcaa <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/fVZRFlGwKg\">pic.twitter.com\/fVZRFlGwKg<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 South Ahh (@Pole1803) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Pole1803\/status\/1995878509697450410?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">December 2, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><strong>Written by: Ntsako Mukhari<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Orlando Pirates have confirmed that defender, Mbekezeli Mbokazi, will join Major League Soccer (MLS) side Chicago Fire. The 20-year-old Pirates vice captain has secured a lucrative January transfer to the United States of America, reportedly valued at $3 million, following a steady rise since joining the Buccaneers. &#8220;Chicago Fire FC ...<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":35297,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[1604,1139,2164,1376,2165,2162,2163,1300],"class_list":["post-35296","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-afcon","tag-betway-premiership","tag-chicago-fire","tag-hugo-broos","tag-jose-riveiro","tag-mbekezeli-mbokazi","tag-mls","tag-orlando-pirates"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.yfm.co.za\/devworld\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/WhatsApp-Image-2025-12-02-at-19.49.39.jpeg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.yfm.co.za\/devworld\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35296","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.yfm.co.za\/devworld\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.yfm.co.za\/devworld\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yfm.co.za\/devworld\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yfm.co.za\/devworld\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35296"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.yfm.co.za\/devworld\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35296\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":35299,"href":"https:\/\/www.yfm.co.za\/devworld\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35296\/revisions\/35299"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yfm.co.za\/devworld\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/35297"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.yfm.co.za\/devworld\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35296"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yfm.co.za\/devworld\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35296"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yfm.co.za\/devworld\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35296"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}