Kaizer Chiefs Youngster Naledi Hlongwane has been one of the most talked about players during the January transfer.
Hlongwane emerged as a promising striker from the Chiefs academy after he introduced himself to the club fans with a brace in the Carling Cup for All Stars following their 3-0 win over Magesi back in December 2024.
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The Vaal-born forward, after also forming part of the Amakhosi squad that won the DStv Diski Challenge, was subsequently promoted to the first team ahead of the 2025/26 season.
Here, he raised expectations even further after scoring for The Glamour Boys in their pre-season friendly tour of the Netherlands, in a 1-0 win over PEC Zwolle.
This has earned the 19-year-old a starting berth in Kaizer Chiefs’ first game of the Betway Premiership season, playing for just under an hour in a 2-0 victory over Stellenbosch while former coach Nasreddine Nabi was still in charge.
Hlongwane, however, has not appeared for the Soweto giants since then, and his chances of playing appeared slim after he joined the DDC team that went on tour of the UK in November/December, as a prize for winning the reserve league title.
In January, rumours emerged that Golden Arrows were interested in signing the young footballer on loan; however, this has not materialised.
Soccer Laduma has gathered reliable information that there were, in fact, a few Betway Premiership clubs that approached Amakhosi for the services of the lanky young forward, including Arrows and AmaZulu, not only on loan but with the view of signing the Sebokeng native permanently.
A source close to the situation has since revealed that the approaches to lure Hlongwane from the Naturena village permanently, with the promise of first-team regular football, spooked Chiefs.
Soccer-Laduma revealed that Amakhosi have long-term plans for the 19-year-old and are extremely guarded on losing him out to other PSL teams, even for a transfer fee, following the situation of Puso Dithejane (now at Chicago Fire) and Khulumani Ndamane (at Mamelodi Sundowns).
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Both players were initially given first-team football opportunities by TS Galaxy after a sour exit from their academy.
Indications are that Hlongwane is currently injured, which also complicated the proposed loan move.
