2) The other forwards are ageing

1) He was unplayable at his best

There can be little doubt that the number one reason for Amakhosi going from ninth place in the 2018/19 season to nearly winning the league in 2019/20 was the arrival of Nurkovic. He initially ‘traumatised’ the PSL with his physicality and aerial ability. Not only did he score a lot of goals in that first campaign, but he scored crucial ones – match winners and equalisers. He also took the most Man of the Match

awards in the PSL and scored more open play (i.e. excluding penalties) goals than any other player in the league. If he could get back to those levels, the Soweto giants could become serious title contenders once again under Stuart Baxter.

One important consideration for Chiefs should be that their other forwards are all getting on in years. Sure, Nurkovic turns 30 in June, but Leonardo Castro will be 33 by that time, Khama Billiat is headed towards his 32nd birthday and Bernard Parker turns 36 in March. Whilst the club has a couple of younger attackers, none are proven yet as consistent PSL performers. Nurkovic may be no spring chicken, but he is the youngest of the club’s four main forwards and should still have a few more years at the top level.

3) Increasing value for a sale

Whilst it may come across as cynical, the Naturena-based outfit would get nothing in June if they let Nurkovic depart. They could have received a very decent transfer fee in 2020 had they accepted a bid then from clubs in the Gulf or had given Al Ahly encouragement to make a bid. Even if Baxter isn’t sold on the Serbian – and we don’t know his position on the matter for certain – it could be worth it for the club to renew his contract in order to sell him soon after. Football is a business and Nurkovic is an asset, albeit an “impaired” one in financial parlance. Baxter may want to use other players or put the target man in a wide role, but that only serves to further decrease Nurkovic’s sale value if he isn’t scoring. For the good of the club, the coach may need to highlight his asset’s strengths in order to provoke interest from overseas clubs. A bigmoney sale would hopefully see the British mentor given the funds to spend to strengthen a few different departments of his squad.

4) A ‘Plan B’ is crucial

Whilst Baxter has a clear style of play focusing on winning the ball in midfield and transitioning to attack at pace, he does need a reliable alternative. No club can rely on a single way of playing as some opponents will eventually work out how to nullify those tactics. We saw that under Ernst Middendorp… he had a Plan B to play more direct, which surprised PSL teams, but he did not change his strategy once teams began to figure that out. Keeping Nurkovic would make it difficult to plan for matches against Chiefs. It’s also key to have a more direct option in continental football on poorer playing surfaces. Even Mamelodi Sundowns signed Mauricio Affonso and then Pavol Safranko to bring a new dimension to their play. In short, Amakhosi could become predictable without a top target man amongst their options.