Yeye praises Kaizer Chiefs’ ‘gifted’ Vilakazi

Kaizer Chiefs midfield legend Reneilwe ‘Yeye’ Letsholonyane believes Mfundo Vilakazi is a real talent in the South African game, but would not be drawn on whether the 18 year-old can shine this season for Nasreddine Nabi’s Amakhosi.

Letsholonyane is now on the coaching staff for the South African Under-20 side, and got a first-hand view as Vilakazi scored a goal in each of Amajita’s friendlies against Lesotho earlier this month.

“Mfundo is a talented young man, I can tell you. I think I even tweeted three or four years back to say he is a talented player,” said Letsholonyane.

“And it has not changed. He is one player that is technically above most of his peers. He is gifted. How he is going to fare with Chiefs, I don’t know.

“I can only talk about him with the national team. He scored in the first game (against Lesotho) and played 65-70 minutes. In the second game he only got ten minutes because we were managing him. But within that ten minutes he had two attempts and scored once. That tells you what type of player he is. When he is in the right positions on the field he is a dangerous player.”

‘You must be strong mentally’

When pressed on what it might take for Vilakazi to succeed at Chiefs – the youngster has made just seven first team appearances for Chiefs in the PSL and has not scored yet – Letsholonyane added:

“He is a good player, attitude-wise. He is willing to learn and work hard. For me at Chiefs before anything else you must be strong mentally. Chiefs is a big team that has not done well in the last few years, so the pressure becomes even greater.

“Any player that goes to Chiefs must be mentally ready to represent their … millions of supporters.”