Manchester City’s Spike Brits is one of the several expat South African kids at the top English Clubs by Nick Said.
South Africa has a player at the current best team in the world, though it may be a few years before we see him in action.
In June, Manchester City completed the signing from AFC Wimbledon of 16-year-old goalkeeper Thorsten ‘Spike’ Brits for what has been reported as a record fee for an academy player to the London club, though the amount has not been disclosed.
The transfer amount has been informally reported as £200 000, or R4.5 million, quite a bit of dough for a player who is for now an unproven talent. What they are paying for, of course, is potential.
Brits has already appeared as an England under-16 international and is highly regarded in that country as the best keeper in his age group by some distance.
“This is a bittersweet moment for us as an academy, because Spike is someone who we’ve seen develop from being a young boy to a young man and that story would have had a beautiful ending if he had progressed and played for the first team,” Wimbledon academy manager Michael Hamilton stated at the time.
“This opportunity affords him the chance to take his potential into an elite environment; it’s an opportunity of a lifetime.”
So, who is he? Brits’ South African parents emigrated to England from East London and the gloveman was born in their adopted home.
He joined Wimbledon at the age of five, and had come through the club’s development ranks, also catching the eye of Brighton & Hove Albion and Brentford before City swooped.
“I hope to one day return and push the club to the heights it belongs, but until then I wish everyone at (Wimbledon) all the best in the future for what’s to come,” Brits said when his move was confirmed.
He has made it clear that for now, he is focusing on playing for England, and going into an environment like Manchester City will certainly help with his development, but he has kept the door open for South Africa.
Should things not work out with in the land of his birth, he has confirmed he would be open to playing for Bafana Bafana one day.
But he is not the first player with South African links to join Pep Guardiola’s City.
Dutch-born centre back Philippe Sandler, whose father is South African, moved to the club in 2018, but a string of injuries and tough competition in the squad meant he only played a single game for them and had a succession of loans in Belgium and France.
He left for Feyenoord in the 2021/22 season and spent last term with NEC Nijmegen, still battling to get his career off the ground at the age of 26.
And Brits was not the only South African at Wimbledon either, with Durban-born Ethan Chislett a key part of the first team since 2020 before his move to Port Vale in the 2023/24 campaign.
BRITS IS NOT ALONE
Spike Brits is not the only South African teenager at an English club.
Elyh Harrison
The 17-year-old goalkeeper is in the development system at Manchester United.
Stevie Bausor
The 18-year-old goalkeeper plays in the juniors at Leicester City.
Osa Solomon
Solomon is a 19-year-old right back at Nottingham Forest.
Waylon Renecke
The 17-year-old Norwich City centre back was named in a preliminary squad for Bafana Bafana in June.
Roraigh Browne
Another goalkeeper, the 17-year-old is at Watford.
