Itumeleng Khune slams football agents: 'They wasted my time and money'

Former Kaizer Chiefs goalkeeper Itumeleng Khune has delivered a scathing assessment of South African football agents, issuing a strong warning to young players.

Khune left Chiefs at the end of last season, 25 years after joining the club as a 12-year-old. Despite his departure, the 37-year-old insists he has not retired and believes he still has more to offer on the field.

Speaking at a Nedbank Cup dinner in Durban recently, the 37-year-old former Bafana Bafana captain urged young players to keep a very close eye on their finances, something he failed to do throughout his illustrious career.

“I think learning about finances is very important because, as footballers, we tend to think that we have agents,” Khune, who was paid a reported R480,000 per month in his last season with the club, said, according to FARPost.

Get your news on the go, click here to join the IOL News WhatsApp channel.

“I don’t mean to downgrade the agents or talk bad, but towards the end of my career, I stopped using an agent, and I began to see growth in my bank account. When I was still under an agency, I thought they were doing the job, but all they did was to come and sign a three-year contract with the team, and you sign a two-year contract with them,” he continued.

“So, they get their share of money, and they forget completely about you because you’re not their only player. They would rather have five different goalkeepers, playing for different teams.

“And when a club approaches an agent and says we need a goalkeeper, he has to choose from the five as to which one he is taking.

“So, I feel like agents have wasted my time, and if I knew that at a young age, I would be far by now. Players always run to agents for advice, yet agents only think of their pockets.”

IOL Sport

Get your news on the go, click here to join the IOL News WhatsApp channel.