Kaizer Chiefs emerging forward Mduduzi Shabalala has opened up on the experience he gained during his trials in Europe, and explained why he refuses to regard himself as a youngster. Before being promoted to the senior team at the beginning of the season, Shabalala underwent trials at Spanish side Villarreal and KVC Westerlo in Belgium. He was reportedly meant to trial at either Real Madrid or Barcelona, but those plans were scuppered by the Covid-19 pandemic.
The 19-year old explained that he learned a lot during his time in Europe, and believes his game can develop faster if he were to move overseas. “It was a good experience, I’ve learned a lot in Belgium and in Spain. Things are done in different ways, you can see when they play that things are done in a different way. We still have a lot of work to do as players in South Africa, we just have to stay focused and grounded. Those people are far ahead of us. If I can go there now, I can grow fast, my football can really grow fast,” he said.
Shabalala went on to explain his attitude of refusing to be regarded as a youngster, saying he is inspired by players such as Barcelona midfielder Pedri (20) and Paris Saint-Germain forward Kylian Mbappe, who won the World Cup at 19. “It helps you to fight in the game and don’t look down on yourself and always give your best, don’t limit yourself because you can see now what’s happening in football. Look at your Pedris, so you’re going to say you’re a youngster until when? When the likes of Pedri are playing in the World Cup (with Spain), the likes of Mbappe, they won the World Cup (with France) when they were 19. So you’re going to say you’re a youngster until when? So you always have to give your best and fight for your position in the game,” he said.
