Thabo Cele: The Sundowns Soccer Midfielder, His Clubs, Caps and Net Worth

Thabo Cele is a South African midfielder from KwaMashu who joined Mamelodi Sundowns as a free agent on 10 September 2026, on a two year deal with an option to extend. He arrived in Pretoria days after Kaizer Chiefs and Cele agreed a mutual termination of his contract in September 2026, so he went from Amakhosi to Masandawana inside the same month. What follows covers who he is, every club on his road from KZN through Portugal, Poland and Russia, what he does in midfield, his Bafana Bafana record and what is known about his earnings.

His career reads like a minibus taxi that took the long road into town, because Cele left South Africa at 19 and only played his first Premiership match at 28. Most players from the Kasi build a name at home and then try Europe, but he did it the other way round. So, if you have only seen him in gold or yellow, the European years explain a lot about the calm, positional player you are watching now.

Who Is Thabo Cele?

Thabo Cele is a midfielder, and he signed for Mamelodi Sundowns as a free agent in September 2026. He was born on 15 January 1997 in KwaMashu, the township north of Durban. In my opinion, the most interesting thing about him is the order of his career, because he spent close to nine seasons in Europe before he ever played in the South African top flight.

For readers in Lagos, Nairobi, Accra and Kampala who follow the PSL on pay TV, the Premiership is South Africa's top division, played home and away so every club meets every other twice, with the log deciding the champion on points. Kaizer Chiefs, known as Amakhosi, and Mamelodi Sundowns, the Pretoria club called Downs, Masandawana or the Brazilians, carry two of the biggest fan bases in the country. Cele has now worn both shirts, which is why his move drew such heavy coverage at home.

The Road From KwaMashu: Every Club and Every Move

Cele came through KwaMashu Arsenal in 2012-13 and KwaMashu All Stars in 2014-15, before the KZN academy in 2015-16 gave him the platform that took him overseas. He turned professional in Portugal with Real SC in 2016-17, and he made 24 league appearances with 2 goals in that first season. For a teenager from KZN dropped into a new language and a new climate, that is a solid return, and it earned him a bigger step.

That step was Benfica, who signed him in 2017 and used him with their B side, where he made 6 league appearances in 2017-18. He was loaned back to Real SC during the same campaign. In 2018 he moved to C.D. Cova da Piedade, and the three seasons there to 2021 were the making of him, with 70 league appearances and 5 goals.

Poland came next, as Radomiak Radom signed him in October 2021 on a two year deal, and he made 33 Ekstraklasa appearances. In August 2023 he moved east to Russia with FC Fakel Voronezh, where he played 18 league matches before the two parties agreed to part by mutual consent in January 2025.

The Premiership finally got him in January 2025, when Kaizer Chiefs signed him on a three and a half year contract. He was part of the squad that won the 2024-25 Nedbank Cup. Chiefs and Cele agreed a mutual termination in September 2026, and he signed for Sundowns as a free agent on 10 September 2026.

Why Did Cele Leave Chiefs for Sundowns?

Kaizer Chiefs and Cele agreed to terminate his contract in September 2026. He subsequently joined Mamelodi Sundowns as a free agent on 10 September 2026.

For Cele, the move means competing for a midfield place in a squad built to chase the log and continental honours at the same time. Sundowns have long been regulars in the CAF Champions League, so his move also put him back on the continental stage, which interests fans in Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya and Uganda as much as in Gauteng. The appearances module above tracks his playing time.

What Does Cele Do on the Pitch?

Cele is a midfielder whose career offers several ways to assess his contribution beyond scoring. When watching him, follow his positioning, passing choices and involvement when possession changes hands. Those details help explain how a midfielder contributes to the team.

His Portuguese record includes 70 league appearances and 5 goals for Cova da Piedade between 2018 and 2021. That spell supplied the largest appearance total among his European clubs listed in the career log.

Cele then made 33 league appearances for Radomiak Radom between 2021 and 2023 and 18 for Fakel Voronezh between 2023 and 2025. Those spells extended the South African midfielder's club career across three European countries before his return to Mzansi.

At Chiefs, his honours included the 2024-25 Nedbank Cup. His move to Sundowns in September 2026 brought that experience to another South African midfield. To assess his contribution, watch how he supports team mates both in possession and when the ball changes sides.

Cele and Bafana Bafana: Debut, Olympics and the Caps Module

Cele has 5 senior caps for South Africa to the end of the 2025-26 season, with 1 in 2017 and 4 in 2023, and he has not scored for Bafana Bafana. His debut came in 2017, the same year he made 3 appearances for the South Africa U20 side. That double step in one year shows how highly the national set up rated him while he was still finding his feet in Portugal.

Six years separated Cele's senior appearance in 2017 from his four caps in 2023. His club career during that interval took him through Portugal and into Poland, linking his Bafana Bafana record with his years abroad.

Between those senior spells, Cele made 6 appearances for the U23s from 2019 to 2021 and was named in South Africa's squad for the 2020 Summer Olympics, held in Tokyo in 2021. For a KZN product, an Olympic squad place is a proud line on the record, and it put him alongside the generation of South African players who built European careers before returning home.

The caps module records senior international appearances as its data updates after international windows. Read its total alongside the dated record of Cele's appearances in 2017 and 2023. Fans across Southern and East Africa can follow those windows through the national team profile.

Thabo Cele net worth

Briefly News reported in 2025 that Cele earned about R480,000 a month at Kaizer Chiefs, up from about R310,000 a month at Fakel Voronezh. Briefly could not verify those amounts against a club or other official source, so the report provides an attributed earnings estimate.

The reported Chiefs amount relates to Cele's 2025 spell at Amakhosi and does not establish his earnings following his September 2026 move to Sundowns. The comparison with Fakel concerns his earlier Russian club spell.

Cele's reported monthly pay does not establish his net worth. Estimating his wealth would also require information about his assets and debts, which the two reported salary amounts do not provide.

For readers in Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya and Uganda, the Briefly News 2025 estimate of R480,000 a month can be illustrated using assumed rates of R1 to ₦85, GH₵0.65, KSh7.50 and USh210. Those assumptions give roughly ₦40.8 million, GH₵312,000, KSh3.6 million and USh100.8 million a month respectively. These are illustrative conversions of an unverified earnings estimate, using assumed rates rather than dated exchange quotations.

How to Watch Cele From Nigeria, Kenya, South Africa, Ghana and Uganda

To plan viewing around Cele's Sundowns appearances, read the fixtures module's four kick off clocks together: WAT, EAT, SAST and GMT. A Pretoria start of 19:30 SAST corresponds to Accra's 17:30 GMT; viewers in Lagos would tune in at 18:30 WAT, while Nairobi and Kampala share 20:30 EAT. Those offsets let supporters follow the KwaMashu midfielder from each of the five countries without confusing local start times.

For a Sundowns fixture involving Cele, open its card to find the viewing information supplied by the updating feed. Check the competition as well as the broadcaster, because a Premiership listing does not establish where a CAF Champions League match will be shown. A Nedbank Cup appearance also needs its own viewing check, including the scheduled start.

Use Cele's fixtures to choose a match, then read the log and results modules for the team context around his midfield role. During play, trace the passing options he creates for Sundowns and the positions he takes as possession returns to his side. His route through Portugal, Poland and Russia also offers a starting point for exploring our African soccer players section.