The Siya crew understands Kaizer Chiefs could be interested in bringing IK Sirius forward Tashreeq Matthews back to the PSL in South Africa.
Matthews came through Ajax Cape Town, then Bundesliga club Dortmund and has been in sensational form in Sweden this season. He's already got nine goals and seven assists from 26 appearances for Sirius in this campaign, more goal contributions than any South African player in Hugo Broos' Bafana Bafana squads this season, as reported by Soccer Laduma recently.
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The 23-year-old has previously represented South Africa at U20 level but had then fallen off the radar as he was loaned out between Dortmund and Utrecht U21, before other stints in Sweden with Helsingborgs IF and Varbergs.
Matthews is not the only South African wide forward to have made an impact in Sweden and got the attention of selectors. A decade ago Tokelo Rantie had played for Malmo FF after also being at IFK Hassleholm and went on to arguably become Bafana's most important forward under (former SA coach) Shakes Mashaba's outfit.
The main difference with Matthews is that he's still young with time to prove himself in Europe and to see if he can get the attention of national team coach Broos, while at the same time Chiefs are looking at him already. If Matthews plays for one of South Africa's biggest Premiership teams such as Chiefs, he might have a better chance of showing selectors how much he's improved by coming up against other players in contention.
Siya sources at Amakhosi have indicated the club is following his progress in Sweden with interest and even discussed how he could fit into the current team.
"The interest for (Tashreeq) Matthews has been there from the club. It could have dried up after signing Tebogo Potsane but the technical team has a plan in place on how they could eventually use Matthews if or when he joins Chiefs," said the Siya source.
"Look there are other wingers like Keagan Dolly, Pule Mmodi, George Matlou (attacking midfielder) and Potsane but the advantage of Tashreeq (Matthews) is that he is versatile.
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"He can play on either the left or the right but also as a central midfielder. Meaning he can cover up for other players who could be out injured or suspended.
"Yeah, the technical team are looking at such a player and they feel if they can get him he could be one of the right solutions to different problems," the source concluded.
Notably, Chiefs also have midfielder Mduduzi Mdantsane who Broos recently brought in as a late replacement in his squad when Percy Tau pulled out of the recent Bafana international friendlies.
Chiefs Sporting Director Kaizer Motaung Jr had previously noted that his club is not done with transfers yet, so it remains to be seen if Matthews could be an option in January or during the winter window.
Another source added that Matthews could be groomed to replace Keagan Dolly and that Chiefs need someone to take over from the former Montpellier player in future.
"Tashreeq is only 23-years-old and they feel he would be the right player to take over from Dolly when it is his time to retire. He will be playing and learning from him while at the same time being groomed to take over in that position when the time comes.
"That's how the technical team is looking at using him if they can sign him. You know he is playing in Europe and at times it's not easy for players to come back home from Europe," said the other Siya source.
"But if it happens then Chiefs are in the running for his signature," the source told Soccer Laduma.
Soccer Laduma contacted Chiefs for comment but no response was received while preparing this story.
