{"id":1864,"date":"2026-07-25T13:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-07-25T11:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/goalmzansi.com\/?p=1864"},"modified":"2026-07-25T11:42:13","modified_gmt":"2026-07-25T09:42:13","slug":"da-cruz-preference","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/goalmzansi.com\/index.php\/2026\/07\/25\/da-cruz-preference\/","title":{"rendered":"Da Cruz\u2019 preference"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Fernando Da Cruz noted that Thabo Cele wont be in his plans for the 2026\/27 campaign as the faces the exit doors at Naturena.<\/p>\n<p>Kaizer Chiefs coach Fernando Da Cruz has admitted that midfielder Thabo Cele does not suit his tactical specifications ahead of his first campaign with the Soweto giants.<\/p>\n<p>Despite Cele\u2019s reputation of being a fan favourite among Chiefs fans, Da Cruz has made a major call to axe the midfielder from his plans for the new season.<\/p>\n<p>Cele was left out of Chiefs squad for the pre-season tour of Spain a couple of weeks ago, while Amakhosi will take on Scottland FC at the Royal Bafokeng Sports Palace on Sunday.<\/p>\n<p>Speaking ahead of the game, Da Cruz mentioned he prefers a different kind of player in Cele\u2019s position, a comment that could well end his short time in Soweto after signing for the side in January 2025.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019ve got lot of players in Thabo Cele\u2019s position,\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/Velile_Mnyandu\/status\/2080565525457858657\" target=\"_blank\">SABC journalist Velile Mnyandu reported on X<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI prefer a different type of players in his position and he\u2019s not in my plans for this season.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Fernando Da Cruz noted that Thabo Cele wont be in his plans for the 2026\/27 campaign as the faces the exit doors at Naturena.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":1865,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_vp_format_video_url":"","_vp_image_focal_point":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[55,57,135],"class_list":["post-1864","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local-news","tag-betway-premiership","tag-kaizer-chiefs","tag-transfer-news"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - 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