Kaizer Chiefs are believed to have made the decision to keep midfielder Edson Castillo until the end of his contract, despite the player reportedly wanting to leave in the past and previous reported interest from Egyptian giants Zamalek.
Sources close to Chiefs have indicated that head coach Nasreddine Nabi has recommended that the midfielder stays with the team for at least this season, with a decision on his future set to be made at the end of the season, which will also mark the end of his two-year contract.
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One of those sources added that the coach may prefer to use Castillo, as well as Samkelo Zwane and Yusuf Maart in the defensive midfield department, hence the need to keep the former player until the end of his contract.
"Toward the end of last season it's true he was not happy and had actually requested to leave as he was not playing the way he would have loved to, or the way he had started his life at Chiefs," said the Siya source.
"And with interest from Zamalek, he was willing to leave but since the arrival of coach Nabi, things have changed for the better for him and he wants to stay. The team has looked into it and have decided that they will keep him until the end of his contract in June 2025. And depending on the end of the season report from the coach and his technical team, they will take the final decision then. But for now, they will keep him until the end of his contract," the source added.
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A second source stated that Castillo has a one-year option at the end of his current contract, but indications are that there were no official talks yet from the club to use it.
"By now, they should have shown the intent of renewal of the one-year option. But they are quite as they are waiting for his current contract to end and also get the report from the coach at the end of the season. But for now, the coach has shown that he will be using him together with Samkelo (Zwane) and Yusuf Maart in that holding position depending on the games and that's why they are keeping him for this season," the source stated.
In his first season, the 30-year-old Venezuelan midfielder played many games and was in good scoring form under former coach Molefi Ntseki, which earned him a call-up to his national team.
Soccer Laduma tried to get a comment from Chiefs, but there was no response at the time of preparing this story.
