Portugal winger keen to end his playing days with PSL Club

Luis Boa Morte in SA soon for talks and Chiefs interested in Celtic's Eric Mathoho, write Marc Strydom and Bareng-Batho Kortjaas

FORMER Fulham and West Ham winger Luis Boa Morte will arrive in South Africa on January 16 for talks with a Premier Soccer League club, the agency handling the negotiation has said.

Boa Morte, 34, is a free agent having recently been released from his contract by Greek club AE Larissa, where he spent the past six months.

Paul Mitchell, of Siyavuma Sports Agency, said the Portugal international is interested in ending his career in the PSL.

"Luis Boa Morte will be coming out to speak to one of the PSL clubs on January 16. The club have asked not to be named because it's still very sensitive at this stage," Mitchell said.

"But he will definitely be coming to negotiate with a club and we'll be representing him. He's very excited about South Africa.

"He was playing for West Ham in the Premiership as little as six months ago. Then he was at AE Larissa in Greece, but things didn't work out."

Mitchell said Boa Morte also has options outside SA. "He has two or three clubs interested in him."

Boa Morte played 325 games in the Premiership for Arsenal, Southampton, Fulham and West Ham, scoring 49 goals. Most were at Fulham (195 games, 45 goals), while he scored two goals in 91 games for West Ham between 2007 and the end of last season.

Meanwhile, there has been little progress on Steven Pienaar's move from Tottenham Hotspur, who have named a £5-million asking price for the Bafana Bafana captain.

"Nothing's happening," was all Pienaar's Barcelona-based agent, Rob Moore, would say.

Moore said sports agency Extra Time have not yet entered into talks with the clubs Pienaar has been linked to, including Sunderland, Aston Villa or previous side Everton.

On the local front, Eric Mathoho's agent, Tim Sukazi, gave credence to talk linking the gangling Bloemfontein Celtic defender to Kaizer Chiefs.

"Chiefs are indeed interested in Mathoho. They have spoken to us and we are about to approach Celtic with a view to clinching a deal," Sukazi said.

"His initial contract was due to expire in June 2013. It was extended by one year to 2014 last August on the basis of favourable terms to Mathoho. If Celtic agree terms with Chiefs and the player is happy, he will move but, if not, he'll stay put."

Sukazi said there is not much movement on Mamelodi Sundowns midfielder Elias Pelembe, who has been in negotiations to renew his contract, which expires in June.

"The first move on Sundowns' part was in September. We applied ourselves to it and counter-proposed. Having received our counter-proposal we had a few meetings. The last was in December and there was no meeting of the minds following all those meetings. As such there is no agreement with Sundowns.

"By law he is entitled to engage in negotiations with any club that approaches him. I expect some movement from all interested clubs, including Sundowns. Pelembe returns to the country on January 11. Any interest in him has to be a formal bid and inviting."