{
  "id": 9294468,
  "title": "Hlompho Kekana urges Nkosingiphile Ngcobo to leave Chiefs",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/23/hlompho-kekana-urges-nkosingiphile-ngcobo-to-leave-chiefs",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-09-23T07:22:20.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "SABC News",
    "slug": "sabc-news",
    "url": "https://www.sabcnews.com/sabcnews/hlompho-kekana-urges-nkosingiphile-ngcobo-to-leave-chiefs/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Hlompho Kekana, a former Mamelodi Sundowns captain, has urged Kaizer Chiefs midfielder Nkosingiphile Ngcobo to seek a fresh start away from Naturena. Ngcobo, a 26-year-old academy product, pushed for an exit on transfer deadline day, but the move did not materialise due to time constraints.\n\nKekana, speaking on Soccer Zone, emphasized that potential alone is not enough in football. \"You must reach a stage where you are a player where a team or teams can rely on,\" he stated. With only one appearance so far under new coach Fernando da Cruz, Kekana highlighted that Ngcobo's lack of progress is a clear indication of his dissatisfaction.\n\nThe former Sundowns player noted that Ngcobo's inability to find his form at Kaizer Chiefs can be attributed to his lack of work rate. \"He has never found the ground running at Kaizer Chiefs simply because he didn’t work so hard in terms of work rate,\" Kekana added. Despite Ngcobo's impressive abilities, Kekana stressed that a player of his caliber should be playing every season. \"In the last four years, he played 55 matches. So, he has been playing 13 matches, 13 matches in the last four years, that’s not good enough for a player of that calibre.\"",
  "summary": "SABC Sport reported on Monday night that the 26-year-old was pushing for an exit.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}