Cape Town City have continued to bolster their squad with American-born attacking midfielder Jordan Bender finally linking up with the squad.
Bender, who is of South African descent, was born in Florida and came through the academy of Orlando City in the MLS.
The grandson of the legendary Durban City striker Ian, Bender first came to train with City in January, and iDiski Times reported then that the club were assessing him and likely would sign the player who has represented the USA at junior level, if he was able to qualify as a local, as their foreign slots were full.
Now, six months later, that paperwork has been sorted, and the 21-year-old flew in from the United States to link up with City at their pre-season camp in KwaZulu-Natal.
Bender had returned to the USA after the assessment with Eric Tinkler, and had been training with his former club, where he remains a popular figure, having been the first player to go through all of Orlando’s academy structures and graduate to the first team.
Bender spent four years in Durban as a young child, but most of his life was spent in America. After making his pro debut for Orlando B in 2019, he made his MLS debut for the first team a year later. In 2021 he was on loan at Charlotte Independence in the USLC.
With Bender, and Kijally Drammeh both technically having been recruited in January, City have been relatively quiet in the transfer market this window, with only Marc Van Heerden having been announced by the club.
