Kaizer Chiefs' decision to turn down a former England-based defender has been questioned after the same player made it into Bafana Bafana's 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifying squad.
Bafana are in a mini crisis in defence, as all the regular left-backs are out injured following the lay-off of Aubrey Modiba, who sustained an injury on national duty in the previous international window.
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Modiba joined Paseko Mako on the mend for the national team after the Orlando Pirates left-back also returned from Bafana, in the back of friendly matches against Eswatini and Ivory Coast, injured on his knee and has been ruled out for up to six months following the latest update from the Buccaneers.
Another regular under Broos, Innocent Maela is also out injured on his groin and only expected to return to training in December, with the exact date not specified by the Sea Robbers.
The Belgian coach raised eyebrows when he selected Golden Arrows left-back Bradley Cross, who made it into the 23-man squad in the previous 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers.
Amakhosi had a chance to sign Cross when he was a free agent in November 2022 with former head coach Arthur Zwane in charge after the 22-year-old had just left Newcastle United reserves and trained at Naturena under assessment.
However, the Glamour Boys opted against signing the Kempton Park-born defender, who has now caught the attention of Broos.
Renowned agent Rob Moore, who was close to the dealings around Cross after he left Newcastle reserves, says the left-back, who is under an agency owned by his son, was offered to Chiefs but after his assessment, the club said he's not good enough.
"We knew that Kaizer Chiefs are looking for a left-back, we spoke with them about allowing Brad (Cross) to come train for two, three days for them to have a look, he went there and they said, 'No thank you, not for us, not good enough'," Moore revealed on Metro FM Sports.
"At the end of the day, in my humble opinion, if a player is good enough to play two years with Schalke Under-19s, Schalke are one of the best academies in German football.
"And two years at Newcastle reserve team, training sometimes with the first team as well and he has represented South Africa at youth level, I've got to believe he's not a bad player. Obviously they had an opinion, they didn't think he was good enough."
With the Bafana left-back crisis, Cross has a good chance of making the squad for the Africa Cup of Nations.
The left-back positions at Bafana for AFCON remain up for grabs, as recently Terrence Mashego, who is covering for Modiba in the Mamelodi Sundowns line-up, expressed his desire to make the squad, despite only starting to play recently.
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