‘How my greedy agent denied me a move to Portugal’
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‘How my greedy agent denied me a move to Portugal’
Aug 13, 2026 – 07:55 pm
By Sipho Mlotha
Former Moroka Swallows striker Phumelele Bhengu says he would have realised his dream of playing in Europe were it not for his then agent, who demanded an astonishing amount from the transfer fee.
Bhengu warns youngsters who are new to the PSL to be careful and not let desperation lead them into signing with opportunistic agents who are in it for financial gain.
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At his prime, he was a promising striker, even dubbed the next Benni McCarthy, but his career never really took off.
“Agents stopped me from playing overseas. I would have played overseas if I had made a good choice when it came to agents,” Bhengu opens up, speaking to KickOff.
“At one point, I was in Portugal at a team called Maritimo. The trial was organized by one of the business owners from Cape Town. He had seen me playing against FC Cape Town.
“When he introduced himself, he told me he was from Madeira in Portugal, where [Cristiano] Ronaldo is from. At the time, I was still playing at Mpumalanga Black Aces in the NFD [National First Division].
“I informed my agent about the guy, and he was fine with it. The guy paid for everything, including my visa and pocket money. I went there and made it at the age of 22.
“They allowed me to come back home to team up with my national team’s Under-23 teammates as we were about to leave for the All Africa Games,” he adds.
However, in a sudden twist, Bhengu says his agent applied the brakes on the move.
“He was asking for a 70% cut from the money that was supposed to be paid to the guy who arranged everything for me, even though the agent did nothing for the deal to happen.
“The agent never even gave me pocket money for Portugal. Even when I was there, he never called. The deal ended up not happening because of my greedy agent. He wanted the guy who spent his money to get me to Portugal to get only a 20% cut.
“After that, this agent of mine was only able to get me a deal in the NFD with AmaTuks. That was the worst. You deny me an overseas move just to send me to the NFD!”