Billiat holding out for retirement package
MagRush writer | August 21, 2019
Mamelodi Sundowns Football Club (FC) wants Khama Billiat back. Like a trained sniffer-dog smelling blood, there are no two ways about it. On a rebound, Sundowns is chasing him badly. On the other hand, Kaizer Chiefs FC is negotiating for a better deal. Selling him may turn out to be a good business decision for Chiefs. Eavesdropping is Zamalek Sporting Club (SC), breathing heavily down the necks on any club that lets up. He is simply irresistible. What does Billiat want? The odds of this impending expensive trade-off are outlined here.
Khama Billiat is a Chiefs player, contracted to the club until 2021. It is evident the dribbling wizard commands oodles of respect purely on talent. The high interest up north on the continent (Africa) and the sudden desire by one of his former clubs, the domestic juggernaut, bears testimony to this very fact.
His 5-year contract at Sundowns ended last year (2018) before the club had seen enough of his exploits clad in yellow and blue, the team colours. The defending domestic league champions grudgingly let him go because they were not willing to break the bank to meet Billiat’s steep salary demands, as they believed they were paying him well. Deadlock ensued. The tight leash snapped!
Seeing off his contract to the tail end, Billiat strutted out without an exit price tag on a duck; pleasantly striking his palms out of Chloorkop (Midrand), home of the 2018/19 Absa Premier League champions. Not quite the strike associated with the Zimbabwean football international.
Call him an out-and-out striker, most prefer the attacking-midfielder role, he moved on to decorate his football career further in Johannesburg. While most current (and former) players would have stayed on the dugout and fray the bench, he gazed out over the parapet; leaving Sundowns as a free agent. With feathers all over their yellowed sphere, all they could do was let and watch him leave. Leave. Let leave!
The season’s swoop
True to his agile nature, he leaped back onto the market; loose as ever, he could go wherever his heart pleased. Chiefs’ hooks were in a no-holds-barred prowl for quality players at that juncture. Then the PSL-rattling catch happened at once. It was a direct transition. He suited Chiefs’ quest, although costing them an arm and a leg.
The season-long spent so far at Chiefs did not bring any glory. Based on his lacklustre season, what is there really to endear the shareholders to hold onto him? They would do better by cashing in on him while the sun still shines. Firming their grip stoically on Billiat may frustrate him and there is no empirical case to prove the club’s fortunes or success is linked to retaining him. Even if he stays, keeping him closer to the noose will not come cheap. He will remain a costly asset. Granted, his presence will be felt in the PSL whenever Chiefs are out to do battle in a bid to be the force they once were.
Show me the money
In August last year, Sport 24 cited by The Citizen reported that Billiat was “earning R10 million a year before tax, which comes up to R833 333 a month”. A tantalizing over half a million rand (R515 000) a month” salary after tax, the report said. Accordingly, other publications like the Sowetan posted in March this year (2019) a “R6 million per season …” that translates to a “base salary of around half a million rand per month”. That’s what he commands; an impressive monthly wage.
Given the golden salary he earns currently at Chiefs, his acquisition by any other club will most likely be a preposterous figure.
Born in Harare 28 years ago, he is turning out to be top-clubs’ magnet in Africa. A rare age for scouts to entertain! Zamalek, the Egyptian giants, were enchanted by his on-field charms. For how long have they been observing the star from a distance, only they know. Truly, his jaunts with Sundowns across Africa are as close a guess one can be. Billiat simply dazzled many times when playing against different Egyptian clubs, AL Ahly SC, for instance, in the Confederation of African Football (CAF) competitions. His good run was in keeping with club’s impressive and colourful playing style, popularly known as piano and shoeshine”.
In his national team colours, Billiat proved a key player in the 2019 Zimbabwe squad during the CAF African Cup of Nations (Afcon) tournament staged in Egypt, attracting a lot of praise. His stint in the Afcon was short-lived for his nation did not go past group stages.
Could the recent announcement of Milutin “Micho” Sredojevic by Zamalek as its head coach galvanize their interest in him given the coach’s intimate knowledge of Billiat in the PSL? Most probably! Micho dropped Orlando Pirates, the Soweto giants on Friday night, a few hours before an important MTN8 quarter-final knockout tie with Highlands Park at Orlando stadium. Compounding Pirates’ misery, the underdogs dumped Micho’s former charges out of the top eight competition. Wherever Micho was, although unkind for a coach to say, he must have felt relieved.
Wasted season
During his lodge at Sundowns between 2013 and 2018, plucked away from Ajax Cape Town, Pretoria embraced him. Billiat had a fulfilling spell in the South Africa’s capital city. Somehow the club failed to tie him down beyond the five-year contract. Chiefs pounced on him at the beginning of the 2018/19 season. As might be expected, he became one of the top earners in the Premier Soccer League (PSL).
At his new home, Soweto, Billiat however could not propel his new club to winning any cup competition. His soul appropriation by Chiefs was to help them end the dry spell of cups the club was undergoing. As far as cup competitions go, he made no difference. Actually, the club finished out of the age-old prized “Top 8” spot. A far cry from the club’s pedigree! Even with the scintillating Billiat there’s still no silverware to show for it, underscoring the depths to which Chiefs have sunk.
Staring at the bottom of the barrel for four [4] bone-dry seasons, Chiefs are well aware even Billiat may not save their rocky ship, as witness in the past season. Can this point be substantive enough to let him fly out of the Naturena (Chiefs’ base) nest? Management may think it a good business case. Ernst Middendorp, the current head coach from Germany, may need to calm his head on a rollercoaster spin and accept that this one in particular is beyond his harness.
The relentless volley of suitors from all quarters will not let up on the Billiat rush easily. To an extent, the abrupt reawakened appetite for Billiat by Sundowns is inexplicable. Nevertheless, his return at the club, if it happens, may see him notch a record signing-on fee and a never-to-work again wage. Stuff of dreams! In all likelihood Sundowns will lump their proposition with both monetary and non-monetary embellishments. The latter may see few redundant players top and ride on the dizzying millions of rand to Naturena.
This may be his last big deal. It is not misplaced to assert that he will not acquiesce any moderate offer. Billiat’s interest will be on, first and foremost, a good retirement package and, secondly, icing what is left of his profile. The former, will be an instant realisation should Sundowns secure his signature. If the negotiations breakdown and his move hindered, Chiefs will ground him until his contract matures. This fact is boosted by his hell-bent desire to continue playing in South Africa.
At Chiefs, what can he achieve? Well, the club has been on a slippery slope with the worst seen in the 2018/19 season. Should the current unyielding conditions persist, the best he can do is to be consistent and bag personal accolades. At the moment, obtaining silverware is a distant memory at Naturena. A dream too far also, though not impossible.
All aspects considered, Khama Billiat is a hot property by PSL and CAF standards.
Milestones on record
He travelled a long journey to be the premium sought-after player he is today. Among notable stepping stones, he played for Aces Youth Soccer Academic until 2010, when Caps United lured him. In the same year, he would join Ajax until Sundowns came knocking in 2013. In 2016, he notched his personal best when hailed PSL Player of the Season, Players’ Player of the Season and Midfielder of the season. At Sundowns, he helped clinch three PSL titles – 2013/14, 2015/16, & 2017/18), Nedbank Cup – 2014/15, CAF Champions League trophy – 2015/16 and Super Cup – 2016/17.
Case for Sundowns
Sundowns hunker down for Billiat because of the stiff and demanding competition in CAF assignments. He left a void hard to fill at the club. His departure coincided with that of few other talismen – Keagan Dolly and Percy Tau – who also left the club. Sadly, this band of masterful stars of the 2015 to 2017 CAF tournaments also departed for better challenges in Europe to inch closer to some of the elite leagues in global football.
Altogether, he may achieve more as a player and as a member of the Mamelodi Sundowns “yellow-nation” because of the level of coherence, consistency and high standards within the team. The fans may need to wait no longer than the end of August when the window period for new acquisitions closes in the PSL. Until such time, speculation will continue to swell.