Once touted as the golden boy of South African football, Thulani Serero’s career never really took off during his stay in the Netherlands.
The 33-year-old playmaker left South African shores in 2011 following a spectacular season with Ajax Cape Town. He helped the Cape side finish second and walked away with a number of awards which included PSL Footballer of the Year, PSL Player of the Season, PSL Players’ Player of the Season and the ABSA Premiership Red Hot Young Player award.
Serero was then signed by Ajax Amsterdam for €2.5 million and many South Africans had high hopes for the man that was dubbed as “the golden boy of SA football”.
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During his days with the Urban Warriors, ‘Cream’ was unstoppable due to his speed, technique, pass and eye for goal. Having scored 17 goals in 63 games in the PSL at the time was impressive and a move to Europe was what he needed to improve and become SA’s next Benni McCarthy or Steven Pienaar.
So how much did Serero improve in Europe?
In his first two season in the Dutch Eredivisie, the midfielder only played a total of 20 games, scoring three times. His third season however, was a huge success for the former Bafana star, as he played over 40 games for the Dutch club.
His biggest career highlight came that same season when he scored a goal against Barcelona in the UEFA Champions League group stages. Ajax Amsterdam went on to beat Barca 2-1 and made Serero a favourite amongst the de Godenzonen fans.
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Ironically around the same time, Serero was released from the national team squad due to disciplinary reasons. Then Bafana Bafana coach Gordon Igesund said the star had allegedly stated to the team doctor that he did not want to play a World Cup qualifier match in order to avoid risking an injury ahead of Ajax’s match against Barcelona.
The midfielder insisted that he was indeed injured. Following the saga, he was dropped from the national team for a few years but continued to play regularly for Ajax until 2015.
With Ajax recruting new players ahead of the 2015/16, the star fell down the pecking order and found his game time limited which prompted him to look for a move elsewhere.
He joined Vitesse in 2017 but after two years, he was on the move again this time finding himself in the United Arab Emirates where he is currently based. New reports suggest that Serero might be on his way out of Al Jazira this summer.
Between 2012-16, Serero was arguably at his peak but his brilliance was often in bits and pieces. For Ajax, he had two good seasons but for the national team, he was inconsistent and often lacked motivation.
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At Ajax Cape Town, Serero was fearless and relentless which caused fear to many teams including Orlando Pirates and Kaizer Chiefs. Unfortunately, his move to Ajax Amsterdam didn’t do much to improve him as a player and that left him back to where he started, on the bench and longing for game time.
On talent alone, he was destined to succeed in Europe’s big three leagues, but his full potential was never realised.
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