Kaizer Chiefs has announced that its defender Thatayaone Ditlhokwe is leaving the club to join the Libyan outfit Al-Ittihad after both clubs agreed on terms of transfer.
Ditlhokwe was born and bred in Botswana and has served as the captain of his national team Dipitse(The Zebras),and he joined the Soweto giant at the beginning of the 2023/24 season from SuperSport United.
He spent 18 months at Naturena,he was featured in 32 matches across all competitions,he was primarily playing as a left-sided centre-back and,but lately,he was playing as a left-back under the guidance of a Tunisian tactician Nasreddine Nabi who joined Amakhosi at the start of this season.
He was popularly known as 'TT' by his teammates,technical team and fans,his last match for Amakhosi was last week on Friday when his club defeat Stellenbosch 1-0 in Cape Town.
He is expected to depart this weekend to Tripoli,Libya,where he will meet his new teammates and coaches.
Chiefs' sporting director has revealed that it was not an easy decision for them to let the player leave,however,they allowed him to leave because the player has shown an interest to move to Libya.
"It was not an easy decision for us when Al-Ittihad approached us regarding TT.We engaged the player and during our discussions,he expressed his desire to move to Libya to further experience and opportunities.As a Club,we didn't want to impede his progress,and we appreciate his professionalism and discipline.Although we will miss him,we believe this is a fantastic opportunity for him,and we would like to thank him for his dedicated service to Chiefs and wish him the best of luck in his new venture,"said Kaizer Motaung Jr.,Sporting Director.
He started his professional football career in his home country where he played for Gaborone United from 2017-2018,and from 2018-2020 was playing for Township Rollers before joining South African football club SuperSport United in mid of 2020.
From 2020-2023,he made 82 appearances with Amantsantsatsa a Pitori and scored only three goals.
He started to play for The Zebras in 2018 and has 39 caps and netted two goals for his country.
He will be joining the club that has rich football history particularly in that country,it has been crowned 19 times as Libyan Premier League champions and has lifted Libyan Super Cup for 11 times.
He will be joining the football team which is coaching by the Spanish manager Juan Carlos Garrido Fernandez,a man which has traveled through the length and breadth of Europe,Africa and Middle East where he coached clubs such as Villareal,Club Brugge,Al Ahly,Raja Casablanca and many others.