Kaizer Chiefs Target Fernando Da Cruz for Coaching Role

Kaizer Chiefs’ rebuild is gathering speed – and all roads now appear to lead back to Fernando Da Cruz.

The Frenchman has surged to the front of the queue to become Amakhosi’s next head coach ahead of the 2026/27 season, with talks advancing and internal preference at Naturena increasingly leaning his way. Chiefs have also spoken to Portuguese coach Alexandre Dos Santos, but Da Cruz has emerged as the club’s leading option at this stage of the process.

This is not a cold call. It is a reunion in the making.

A Familiar Face for a Changing Club

Chiefs have already swung the axe on their previous technical setup. Co-coaches Cedric Kaze and Khalil Ben Youssef are out. Goalkeeper coach Ilyes Mzoughi and conditioning coach Majdi Safi have also departed, part of a sweeping reshuffle after a 2025/26 Betway Premiership campaign that ended with a third-place finish but left the club still short of its own demanding standards.

Into that vacuum steps Da Cruz, a coach who knows the corridors of Naturena and the expectations that echo through them.

He recently resigned from his role as Technical Coach at the Royal Moroccan Football Federation (FRMF), clearing a significant hurdle for any potential move. Before his stint in Morocco, the former AS FAR Rabat boss had already spent time inside the Chiefs structure two years ago, working as assistant to Nasreddine Nabi while the Tunisian was wrapping up his duties at AS FAR.

Those weeks at Naturena left a mark.

Da Cruz impressed club figures with the structure of his sessions, the intensity of his training ground demands and the professionalism that framed his daily work. Chiefs, in turn, gave him a clear window into their long-term vision and the operational realities of South Africa’s most scrutinised football institution.

That brief spell now looks like a crucial audition.

Da Cruz Ready, Chiefs Reshaping

Information received by FARPost indicates Da Cruz is open to taking the reins at Naturena should the two parties reach an agreement. With his FRMF chapter closed, he is available at precisely the moment Chiefs are tearing up their old blueprint.

The recent overhaul of the technical department is designed to give Amakhosi more room to build a modern, flexible coaching structure. The club is believed to be weighing up a model that blends an imported head coach with local assistants and support staff, aiming to fuse international expertise with domestic insight.

Those discussions are ongoing, but the intention is clear: a new hierarchy, a new voice, a different edge.

Clock Ticking Before Germany Camp

Time, though, is not a luxury.

Preparations for the new campaign are already accelerating. Chiefs are scheduled to regroup on 22 June, and the club expects to have its coaching structure in place before pre-season intensity ramps up.

July brings a crucial next step. Chiefs plan to head to Germany for a pre-season training camp, where they will test themselves against European opposition in a series of friendlies. That trip will set the tone for the season – tactically, physically, and psychologically. It is the kind of environment where a new head coach needs to be firmly in control, not introduced on the fly.

For that reason, the Da Cruz decision cannot drag.

Squad Rebuild Underway

While the bench is being rebuilt, the dressing room is also changing shape.

Chiefs have already moved in the market, securing Thabo Moloisane after his departure from Stellenbosch FC. His arrival is just the start. Further signings and exits are expected as Amakhosi continue to retool a squad that finished third but still chases the sharpness and consistency required to reclaim domestic dominance.

A new coach. A new staff. Fresh faces on the pitch. A German camp on the horizon.

All that remains is the final piece: whether Chiefs complete the circle and hand the keys to Fernando Da Cruz, the man who once walked their training fields as an assistant and now stands on the brink of returning as the main figurehead of a new era.