Thulani Serero: The forgotten man

The South African International is labelled as one UAE’s best midfielders in the league.

Thulani Serero arrived at Al Jazira with plenty of experience from the Netherlands and his native South Africa. The midfielder came through the ranks before making his professional debut at Ajax Cape town having netted 17 goals in 63 appearances.

He later switched to European giants Ajax, featuring 120 times across six seasons for the Dutch side, scoring ten and assisting seven.

It was once hoped that Thulani Serero was going to be regarded as a big thing for the African nation’s but his star faded away during the last two years.

A lot was expected from the midfielder, during his seasons with Ajax Amsterdam, where he produced a man of the match performance and scored the opening goal in a 2-1 win in the Champions League tie against Barcelona.

Thulani Serero was viewed as Eredivise’s most complete footballers, winning three titles with the Dutch side and being named footballer of the year and player of the season by the South African team.

His style of play perhaps suited the Premier League and had rumored links with Arsenal and other clubs including AC Milan and Celtic.

Serero went on to sign for Vitesse after his contract was not renewed with Ajax. The midfielder rediscovered his form with the Vitas making 83 appearances for the club, scoring and assisting three, also named player of the month of August and September.

After two years with the club, the midfielder set sail for the Abu Dhabi based outfit, by putting pen to paper on a two-year deal with the current leaders and now has become a key member of Marcel Keizer’s squad, having made 39 appearances across all competitions for the club.

The inspiration of joining Al Jazira came from the South African wanting to follow the footsteps of the former Ballon D’or winner, Liberia’s George Weah.

The 30-year-old is still looking for his first league goal for Al Jazira since joining in 2019 but has assisted three and was nominated for best player of the month in February this year.

? "On the ball you almost see no better midfielder and in defence he immediately sees where the danger is."

Marcel Keizer hails the form of our midfield maestro Thulani Serero ?

— Al Jazira Club (@AlJazira_uae_EN) March 5, 2021

The Bafana star was linked with many clubs but ended speculations surround his future by signing a contract extension with leaders Al Jazira in January this season.

Serero’s career is seemingly back to be on the up and now is enjoying more game time at his current club as compared to his latter seasons with the Dutch sides.

He has capped 37 times by his country and played in Bafana’s opening qualifiers for the 2019 African Cup of National.

Marcel Keizer’s side are currently top of the league and are on a six game unbeaten run. The Abu Dhabi side look to win their third UAE title.

Al Jazira rescued a late point to draw against Shabab Al Ahli, whilst Baniyas were victory at Al Ittihad Kalba, which saw the top three be separated by just four points as we enter the last eight games of the season. Sharjah will look to close the gap to just one when face Al Nasr today.

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