Why Gordinho didn’t join Celtic after Chiefs exit…

Lorenzo Gordinho looked to be closing in on a loan move from Kaizer Chiefs to Bloemfontein Celtic, however a last-minute change saw him complete a switch to Bidvest Wits instead last week.

The centre-back has spent the best part of a decade with the Glamour Boys, having come through the youth ranks at the club and into the first team, however will now be donning a Wits shirt for the foreseeable future after penning a two-and-a-half-year deal with Gavin Hunt’s side.

It was looking very likely not so long ago that Celtic, where the 25-year-old enjoyed a successful loan spell, were winning the race to secure his signature in the short-term, with Mike Makaab saying that a deal wasn’t too far away.

Makaab, speaking to Soccer Laduma earlier in the month, spoke of closing in on a move to Celtic, saying, “Yeah, I’m just in the process of drawing things up for Lorenzo to join Celtic on loan for the remainder of this season. He needs to be playing, he knows Celtic and Celtic know him – we’re hopeful we can get something finalised before too long.”

According to Siya sources, though, when Celtic discovered that the defender was eager to remain in Gauteng for the long term, they decided that they would rather look elsewhere for a central defender that they can build the team around for more than just the remainder of the season.

It was then that Wits agreed terms with Chiefs for the immediate transfer of the defender, with the Clever Boys paying an undisclosed fee to bring him on board.