Nkosingiphile Ngcobo is currently being advised to leave Naturena!

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Nkosingiphile Ngcobo is currently being advised to leave Naturena!

In the eyes of former Mamelodi Sundowns captain Hlompho Kekana, Nkosingiphile Ngcobo's career is in need of a reset — one that takes him away from Naturena.

Only then, Kekana believes, can the Kaizer Chiefs midfielder rediscover his form and deliver on the promise he has long shown. The 26-year-old had reportedly been angling for a way out of the club on transfer deadline day, but with time running out, the move collapsed before it could be completed.

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Here's a completely rewritten version in English, using a narrative style, with the quotes preserved:

A product of the famed Kaizer Chiefs academy, Ngcobo has found regular first-team football hard to come by in recent seasons — and the arrival of head coach Fernando da Cruz has done little to change that. One appearance all season is all he has to show for his efforts, a statistic that has only intensified the questions surrounding his future at Amakhosi.

Speaking on Soccer Zone, Kekana made it plain that the time has come for Ngcobo to shed the "promising youngster" tag. In Kekana's view, the midfielder possesses the technical gifts to be a pivotal figure — but those gifts must now translate into week-in, week-out consistency.

"I think we can agree that in football you can't have potential forever. You must reach a stage where you are a player where a team or teams can rely on," Kekana said.

"He's one of the best players that we have in terms of creating moments.

"He's number 10, he knows how to pick the pass, he knows how to score goals, he's got good technique in him."

For years, Ngcobo has been touted as one of the academy's brightest exports, a player capable of making a real mark. Yet injuries, fierce competition for places, and stop-start playing time have all conspired to stunt his growth.

According to Kekana, the missing ingredient is work rate — the one area that could transform him into an undisputed starter.

"He has never found the ground running at Kaizer Chiefs simply because he didn't work so hard in terms of work rate because I think that's the only thing that needs to happen to him," Kekana said.

The former Bafana Bafana midfielder also pointed to a telling statistic: Ngcobo's appearance count over the past four campaigns has been strikingly low.

"If you are a player with that ability you must make sure that you play every season," he said.

"He's 26 now, in the last four years he played 55 matches. So, he has been playing 13 matches, 13 matches in the last four years, that's not good enough for a player of that calibre."