The Sunday News
Mehluli Sibanda, Senior Sports Reporter
ZIMBABWEAN attacking midfielder, Khama Billiat has signed a new two-year contract by his South African football club, Kaizer Chiefs.
In an announcement made on Tuesday, Chiefs said the 30-year old Billiat will be at Naturena for a further two seasons having joined the Glamour Boys from Mamelodi Sundowns at the beginning of the 2018/2019 season.
“Chiefs have also extended Khama Billiat’s contract. He will be with Amakhosi for two more seasons after signing for two years. The Zimbabwean attacking midfielder arrived at Chiefs in 2018 ahead of the 2018/19 season,’’ said Chiefs.
Billiat is one of the five senior players who have been given new deals by Amakhosi. The others are Itumeleng Khune, Lebogang Manyama, Bernard Parker and Ramahlwe Mphahlele.
Another Zimbabwean, Willard Katsande has not been given a new contract, which means he is on his way out of Chiefs.
Goalkeeper Khune is the longest serving player in the current team as he has been a part of the senior team set-up since 2004. The goalkeeper has been given two years’ extension to his contract. This means the player will go into his record-equaling 18th season with Kaizer Chiefs’ senior team. He joins Patrick ‘Ace’ Ntsoelengoe in the record books of Amakhosi. Ntsoelengoe played for Chiefs from 1970 and retired in 1988.
Amakhosi have also signed another one-year contract with option to extend for a further year with attacking midfielder Lebogang Manyama. The Alexandra township-born player arrived at Chiefs from Konyaspor in Turkey in the 2017/18 and has been a key player for the Glamour Boys.
Captain Parker will get to play in his 11th season for Amakhosi as he has also been given a one-year contract extension. The attacker played 42 games last season for Chiefs, making him the second most capped player of the 2020/21 season. He also captained the team in the latter part of the season. He played and captained 13 of the 15 CAF Champion league games for Chiefs last season.
Defender Mphahlele has also received a contract extension for the next season with a one-year option. The Ga-Mphahlele born player joined Chiefs in 2016. He was appointed captain of the team at the start of the season but also struggled with injuries. He will go into his sixth season with Amakhosi.
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