The 28-year-old custodian has stayed put at the Chilli Boys after massive interest in him from PSL clubs and those from overseas.
- Nwabali was a transfer hit in the market
- But he is staying at Chippa
- Mpengesi says he had less value than Ntwari
WHAT HAPPENED?
Chippa United goalkeeper Stanley Nwabali was a transfer target of Kaizer Chiefs and other clubs from overseas.
But Amakhosi ended up signing Rwanda international Fiacre Ntwati from TS Galaxy.
Chippa chairman Siviwe Mpengesi says Nwabali was valued less than Ntwari in what could have been a good deal for the Soweto giants.
WHAT MPENGESI SAID
"It was never about the price, there were two teams who were interested, one of them was AmaZulu, but they were offering peanuts," Mpengesi told KickOff.
"There were talks that we had with Kaizer Chiefs before the end of the season. But then we saw Kaizer Chiefs signing another goalkeeper.
"For Kaizer Chiefs, we were even gonna give them, and the price was not even that high. We were more looking at the interest of the player you know, he was going to play for a big club.
"Because I mean AmaZulu and Chippa are almost the same WhatsApp group, and you still get peanuts," the Chippa boss said.
"So we weighed options, and we thought him leaving Chippa for AmaZulu wouldn't be in his best interest, so he would rather stay with Chippa if Kaizer Chiefs is no longer there," the chairman explained.
"But the deal that we were looking for was at Kaizer Chiefs, the reported price of R40 million. That's nonsense. That thing was never there. That's a lie," he added.
"I am told they paid R8 million for the other goalkeeper, but I can guarantee we would have charged them less.
"But of course, in their judgment, the Galaxy keeper is better than our keeper, which is something where I'm sitting, I dispute. But that's water under the bridge," Mpengesi continued.
"But it has nothing to do with value, any offer we would have taken into consideration, but I mean what AmaZulu were offering was peanuts; they wanted us to give them Nwabali and Eva Nga for peanuts. That was a disrespect."
THE BIGGER PICTURE
But Nwabali's asking price might rise after he recently signed a new deal for Chippa.
According to Transfermarkt, the goalkeeper is currently valued R10 million.
WHAT NEXT FOR CHIPPA?
The Chilli Boys visit Orlando Pirates for their Premier Soccer League opener on Wednesday.
They were inactive this weekend and will hope not be rusty when they face the Soweto giants