Du Preez Says He Will Bang In Goals For Chiefs

Kaizer Chiefs new signing Ashley Du Preez has spoken for the first time after the announcement of his move was made by both Stellenbosch FC and his new club.

Speaking to KickOff, in his interview the 24-year-old admitted that he has mixed feelings about leaving the Stellies.

“I feel happy and sad, but I am excited to take on this new chapter in my life and my career at Kaizer Chiefs. I am looking forward to it,” he said.

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“I had an amazing time at Stellenbosch. I will miss the club, the players, the coaches, everything. What this club has done for me is amazing. They helped me so much and…” Du Preez breaks away momentarily in order to gather himself.

“It’s hard to get the words out to even talk about what this club has done for me.

“It was a hard, hard, hard, hard decision to make to leave Stellenbosch. I thought about it for a long time whether or not I wanted to leave or if should stay but if you want to go further in your career, and if you want to go abroad one day, these are the things you have to do.

“These are the decisions you have to make. I do want to go further in my football career, and I want to go abroad, and this is one step that will open many doors in the future ahead.

“The last 12 months have been up and down, and I couldn’t have imagined being in this position. I never thought I’d be able to be in this position. Stellenbosch helped me so much to showcase my abilities so all thanks go to them. There is no doubt in my mind that I will be back one day. I want to come back at the end of my career and play at home again for a few seasons.”

Du Preez was recently called to represent Bafana Bafana in the upcoming Africa Cul of Nations Qualifiers where Hugo Broos’ men will face Morroco in their first game of the group. He says playing for the national team was one of his aims this season.

“The way I played this season, I wanted teams to look at me and see that I am actually a good player compared to the last two seasons,” he adds. “I wanted it, I wanted these teams like Chiefs to look at me, and to get the Bafana Bafana call-up and play for South Africa.

“One of the reasons behind my decision to join Chiefs is to try and help the club win trophies again and to test myself in a different environment and at a different club – at a big club like Chiefs. I’m looking forward to joining the Amakhosi family and I know that the fans will welcome me and support me because Chiefs is my new team.”

As a young forward that has been finding the back of the net for Stellies, Du Preez says he’s looking to assist Chiefs in tapping the net and winning trophies.

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“That’s the thing I want to bring to Chiefs – goals to help the team,” he concludes. “I always want to help the team, I did it for Stellenbosch and they did it for me, and this is what I want to do at Chiefs as well. I want to score and help other players get on the scoresheet.

“I’ve been watching Chiefs and I played against them twice. They have good strikers and strong strikers but I could see in the team that they lack players who run in behind the defence or get one-v-one with the goalkeeper.

“What they lack at the moment is pace players who can get in behind the defenders. The defenders in this league don’t have what I have, they don’t have that pace. All of that is what I can bring to help Chiefs win games.”