Thabo Cele

Thabo Cele
Cele with Fakel Voronezh in 2024
Personal information
Date of birth (1997-01-15) 15 January 1997
Place of birth KwaMashu, South Africa
Height 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)[1]
Position Midfielder
Team information
Current team
 Kaizer Chiefs
Number 21
Youth career
2012-2013 Kwamashu Arsenal
2014–2015 KwaMashu All Stars
2015–2016 KZN Football Academy
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2016–2017 Real 24 (2)
2017–2018 Benfica B 6 (0)
2018 → Real (loan) 14 (1)
2018–2021 Cova da Piedade 70 (5)
2021–2023 Radomiak Radom 33 (0)
2023–2025 Fakel Voronezh 18 (0)
2025– Kaizer Chiefs 21 (0)
International career‡
2017 South Africa U20 3 (0)
2019–2021 South Africa U23 6 (0)
2017– South Africa 5 (0)
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 4 January 2026
‡ National team caps and goals as of 19:55, 14 July 2023 (UTC)

Thabo Cele (born 15 January 1997) is a South African professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for South African Premiership club Kaizer Chiefs.

Career

Cele was born in KwaMashu.[1]

In 2016, Cele signed for Portuguese third division side Real from the KZN Academy in South Africa.[2]

In 2017, he signed for Benfica, Portugal's most successful club, before returning to Real on loan.

In 2018, Cele moved to Cova da Piedade in the Portuguese second division.

On 12 October 2021, after training with the team since September, Cele joined Polish side Radomiak Radom on a two-year deal.[3]

On 16 August 2023, Cele was transferred to Russian Premier League club Fakel Voronezh.[4] In January 2025, Cele left Fakel by mutual consent.[5]

On 27 January 2025, Cele signed a three-and-a-half-year contract with Kaizer Chiefs.[6]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 9 November 2024
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National cup[a] League cup[b] Continental Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Real 2016–17 Campeonato de Portugal 24 2 4 1 0 0 — — 28 3
Benfica B 2017–18 Liga Portugal 2 6 0 — — — — 6 0
Real (loan) 2017–18 Liga Portugal 2 14 1 — — — — 14 1
Cova da Piedade 2018–19 Liga Portugal 2 27 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 27 2
2019–20 Liga Portugal 2 14 0 0 0 1 0 — — 15 0
2020–21 Liga Portugal 2 29 3 2 0 0 0 — — 31 3
Total 70 5 2 0 1 0 — — 73 5
Radomiak Radom 2021–22 Ekstraklasa 13 0 0 0 — — — 13 0
2022–23 Ekstraklasa 20 0 0 0 — — — 20 0
Total 33 0 0 0 — — — 33 0
Fakel Voronezh 2023–24 Russian Premier League 9 0 4 0 — — — 13 0
2024–25 Russian Premier League 9 0 5 0 — — — 14 0
Total 18 0 9 0 — — — 27 0
Career total 165 8 15 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 181 9

International

As of match played 14 July 2023[7]
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National team Year Apps Goals
South Africa
2017 1 0
2023 4 0
Total 5 0

Honours

Kaizer Chiefs

References

  1. ^ a b Thabo Cele at Soccerway
  2. ^ Carlos Catalino: «Benfica está entusiasmado com Thabo Cele». futebol365.pt.
  3. ^ "Thabo Cele w Radomiaku!" (in Polish). Radomiak Radom. 12 October 2021. Archived from the original on 10 June 2023. Retrieved 12 October 2021.
  4. ^ "Табо Селе – игрок "Факела"" (in Russian). FC Fakel Voronezh. 16 August 2023. Retrieved 16 August 2023.
  5. ^ "Табо Селе покидает «Факел»" (in Russian). FC Fakel Voronezh. 21 January 2025.
  6. ^ "Chiefs strengthen squad with signing of Cele". Kaizer Chiefs F.C. 27 January 2025.
  7. ^ "Thabo Cele". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmermann. Retrieved 16 January 2026.
  8. ^ "Thabo Cele". 90minut.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 16 January 2026.
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