Paul Mitchell, agent of Kaizer Chiefs star Keagan Dolly, has decided to clear the air on recent comments that the talisman turned down a Bafana Bafana call-up earlier this year.
The national team coach Hugo Broos claimed that the player had been drafted into the friendly match against Uganda back in June but asked to be withdrawn.
“For me he’s not a midfielder, he is a forward and he is doing very well for his team. When I came here, I selected him for Uganda. But his wife was giving birth to their first child and he asked not to be selected. I couldn’t understand,” Broos told the SABC during a live broadcast of another squad announcement last week.
Dolly was invited as part of a 24-man squad to take on Zimbabwe in a World Cup qualifier on Thursday and then Ghana away three days later.
Although the star has returned and set to be a key player for Broos, who said he just simply had to pick him based on his form, Dolly’s agent wanted to clarify the events that the coach was referring to six months ago.
“Keagan’s fiancé gave birth to their daughter in early May. It then took them until the third week of July to get a South African ID for the baby to travel back here. It was a very stressful time for them and they were in Paris for a fortnight waiting, unfortunately as a consequence they also had to postpone their wedding in June,” Paul Mitchell, the player’s long-time agent, explained in a recent interview.
In fact, Dolly was also in the process of looking for a new team after leaving French Ligue 1 outfit Montpellier at the end of a four year contract.
“Keagan only started training with Chiefs on July 27 and was only three weeks into his pre-season when he got minutes on the pitch. He has worked extremely hard and it shows in his game, he’s enjoying himself,” Mitchell added.
“He has that X-factor in his boots, the ability to dictate and decide a game, to make a team tick, he is a big plus for Bafana. He has had great support from his club Chiefs and the strong family unit around him, that always offers love and support off the pitch. That’s both essential ingredients for any professional to be successful”.