Thabo Cele (born 15 January 1997) is a South African

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who plays as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

for

Kaizer Chiefs Kaizer Chiefs Football Club (often known as Chiefs) is a South African professional football club based in Naturena, Johannesburg South, that plays in the Premiership. The team is nicknamed ''AmaKhosi'', which means "Kings" or "Chiefs" in Zu ...

Career

Cele was born in

KwaMashu KwaMashu is a township north of Durban, South Africa. The name honours Sir Marshall Campbell and means ''Place of Marshall''. KwaMashu is bordered by Newlands East to the south, Newlands West to the west, Ntuzuma to the north, Phoenix to the ...

. In 2016, Cele signed for Portuguese third division side Real S.C. from the KZN Academy in South Africa. In 2017, he signed for S.L. Benfica, Portugal's most successful club, before returning to Real S.C. on loan. In 2018, he signed for

Cova da Piedade Cova da Piedade () is a former civil parish in the municipality of Almada, Lisbon metropolitan area, Portugal. In 2013, the parish merged into the new parish Almada, Cova da Piedade, Pragal e Cacilhas. The population in 2011 was 19,904, in an ar ...

in the Portuguese second division. On 12 October 2021, after training with the team since September, he joined Polish side

Radomiak Radom Radomiak Spółka Akcyjna (''Radomiak S.A.''), commonly known as Radomiak Radom, is a Polish football club based in Radom, Poland. The club was founded in 1910 and competes in Ekstraklasa, the top level of Polish football. They play their home ma ...

on a two-year deal. On 16 August 2023, Cele was transferred to

Russian Premier League The Russian Premier League (RPL; , ''Rossiyskaya premyer-liga''; РПЛ), also written as Russian Premier Liga, is a professional association football league in Russia and the highest level of the Russian football league system. It was establis ...

club

Fakel Voronezh FC Fakel Voronezh () is a Russian professional football club based in Voronezh. Founded in 1947, the club has played in the Soviet Top League and the Russian Premier League. The club will return to the Russian First League in the 2025–26 season ...

. In January 2025, Cele left Fakel by mutual consent. On 27 January 2025, Cele signed a three-and-a-half-year contract with

Career statistics

Club

References

External links

* * 1997 births Living people South African men's soccer players Men's association football midfielders C.D. Cova da Piedade players Real S.C. players S.L. Benfica footballers Radomiak Radom players FC Fakel Voronezh players Kaizer Chiefs F.C. players Liga Portugal 2 players Ekstraklasa players Russian Premier League players South African expatriate men's soccer players Expatriate men's footballers in Portugal South African expatriate sportspeople in Portugal Expatriate men's footballers in Poland South African expatriate sportspeople in Poland Expatriate men's footballers in Russia South African expatriate sportspeople in Russia Footballers at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic soccer players for South Africa 21st-century South African sportsmen People from KwaMashu {{SouthAfrica-footy-midfielder-stub