Former Orlando Pirates midfielder Isaac Chansa believes that Zakhele Lepasa’s loan to SuperSport United has raised his bar.
Pirates have, of late, created a reputation for producing some of the best young players in the country. But unlike most other teams, they usually prefer to let them go on loans to develop at lower clubs.
So is Lepasa, who spent most of his time in different clubs. He was first loaned out to Stellenbosch from the Buccaneers’ reserve side in 2018. Upon his return to the Pirates in 2019 from Stellies, he was sent to TS Galaxy while they were in the First National Division.
Lepasa made his name when he scored a winning goal for the Rockets in the 2019 Nedbank Cup Final against Kaizer Chiefs.
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ZAKHELE LEPASA BENEFITED FROM SUPERSPORT UNITED LOAN MOVE
Zakes, as Lepasa is known in the football circle, joined Gavin Hunt’s side mid-season during the 2022/2023 campaign before returning to his parent club this season.
And the treble winner player with Pirates, Chansa, has insisted that Lepasa has benefited a lot from Matsatsantsa’s short stint.
“Lepasa played a bit well when he joined the Pirates senior side. Then he started to struggle at a later stage. Last season, they decided to loan him out to SuperSport and he did well,” Isaac Chansa told I Love Kaizer Chiefs.
“He’s now back at home. He’s doing well. That shows this strategy is working. Even Monnapule Saleng went to the Swallows and came back stronger last season. He came back and was even a player of the season contender.”
SENDING OUT YOUNG PLAYERS ON LOAN IS A VIABLE APPROACH
“Look at Zakhele Lepasa, maybe loaning out players for game time and experience before they come back to big teams is the right way to go,” Chansa added.
“It gives them time to learn and improve, then they come back stronger.”
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THEMBA ZWANE AND PERCY TAU SERVE AS EXAMPLES
“I can give you an example, Themba Zwane was loaned out to Black Aces years back, Percy Tau was also sent out on loan. The rest is history,” said the Zambian international.
“Look at them, they became stars at Sundowns and for the national team. Tau even went to play in Europe, so maybe South African players in big teams need to go that route.”
Bafana Bafana striker, who is currently in red-hot form at the Buccaneers, has scored seven goals from six matches in all competitions this season so far.