Covid-19 sees Chiefs player values plummet by the millions

KAIZER Chiefs, arguably the biggest club in South Africa, who finished runners-up in the league last season, had a squad value of about €11.98 million (about R213 million), according to Transfermarkt, but the effects of Covid-19 have seen their squad value drop by the millions.

Chiefs came close to ending their five-year trophy drought last season and came within 20 minutes of league success, but it wasn’t to be for the Glamour Boys, who had to return to the proverbial drawing board.

Chiefs roped in the changes at the end of the season; at least in their technical team, Ernst Middendorp and Shaun Bartlett were shown the door, while Gavin Hunt, Dillon Sheppard and Arthur Zwane were roped in to steer the ship.

Of course, Chiefs aren’t allowed to bring in any new players until July 2021, thanks to their two-window Fifa ban.

Statistics from Transfermarkt showed that Chiefs players experienced a significant decline in value from the onset of the Coronavirus pandemic in March.

Chiefs’ team that remained largely unchanged, except for the departure of George Maluleka to Sundowns, had a combined market value of about €11.98 million (R213 million), but that amount currently stands at €10.25 million (R182M), a drop of around 14.4 percent.

While most Chiefs players have experienced substantial market value drops, it is Khama Billiat who leads the chart.

The Zimbabwean plunged by a staggering 21 percent. Pre-Covid, Billiat was valued at €1.90 million (R33.8 million), but his current value stands at €1.50 million (R26.7 million).

Transfermarkt also shows that the 30-year-old’s value has been dropping since joining Kaizer Chiefs from Mamelodi Sundowns in 2018 valued at €2 million (R35.6 million).

His teammate, Itumeleng Khune, the second most valuable Kaizer Chiefs player, also witnessed a €200 000 (R3.5 million) loss in 2020, with his market value falling from €1 million (R17.8 million) in February 2020 to €800 000 (R14.2 million) in April 2020.

Despite their significant drop in market value, Chiefs are still in the top three highest valued clubs in the DStv Premiership, and sit in third place behind Orlando Pirates at €12.58 million (R223 million) and Mamelodi Sundowns at €18.10 million (R322 million). — Soccer Laduma