SOWETO giants Kaizer Chiefs will, for the first time since 2001, jet off to Europe for their pre-season head of the 2024/2025 campaign.
The club have decided to hold their pre-season camp in Turkey, where they are expected to spend the next three weeks recalibrating their minds and bodies.
Amakhosi are set to announce the appointment of Tunisian tactician Nasreddine Nabi alongside four members of his newly formed technical team in the coming days.
Chiefs have already begun their squad revamp processes by releasing players and are expected to be radical in that stance with the arrival of Nabi.
Kaizer Motaung Jr, the sporting director at the club, explained why the club elected to have their pre-season abroad, particularly with a new technical team.
“The most crucial aspect of a pre-season camp is to make sure that the team is building team unity and overall mental readiness for the season ahead. These are vital as every top team needs to work together to build its internal strength in order to be prepared for the challenges ahead,” said Motaung Jr.
He added: “More specifically for us, with a new incoming coaching structure, it helps for the new coaching team to have the squad away from their normal environment in order to assess what work must be done and how they need to work going forward together.
“We are looking forward to a very productive preparation process, and we hope the team will be able to focus on the job at hand as we gear towards starting the season very strongly,” he adds.
Chiefs are following a trend that Orlando Pirates and Mamelodi Sundowns set in recent seasons.
After visiting Spain at the start of last season, Jose Riveiro’s Pirates will this time begin their pre-season against English Championship side Plymouth Argyle on July 12, before heading to Seville on July 15 to take on La Liga outfit Sevilla.
To round off the tour, the back-to-back MTN8 and Nedbank Cup champs will face Qatar Stars League outfit Al Sadd SC on July 19.
Defending DStv Premiership champions Sundowns will be based in Austria where they’ll face European opposition as well as Saudi Arabian champions Al Hilal and line up against stars like Brazil’s Neymar.
Club chairman Thlopane Motsepe, speaking in the latest version of Sundowns’ digital magazine, said that after their good pre-season in the Netherlands last year, they hoped for similar results again to prepare for the 2024/25 DStv Premiership, and next year’s Fifa World Cup.