Lyle Foster being exposed to half rugby, half football in the English Championship with Burnley will help him develop, according to Bafana Bafana boss Hugo Broos.
Foster, 22, made a South African record transfer to Vincent Kompany’s side from Belgian outfit KVC Westerlo and they are en route to Premier League promotion with a 13 point lead at the top of the table with nine games remaining.
“I have contact with Lyle in the beginning, but I don’t want to call him every week, let him adapt in other ways of football, let him adapt on the team and I will see him next Monday, so there’s no problem,” Broos said about his move.
Foster has been used sparingly, mostly as a second-half substitute with starts in the FA Cup since his January move but netted his first goal last weekend in the 3-0 win over Wigan Atheltic
But Broos has no qualms over his compatriot and how he’s handled his recent development of South Africa’s main striker at present as he feels he’s on the right track.
“I didn’t speak with Kompany until now, let him first adapt there and I’ll see how he progresses and if there’s a problem or something then okay I will call Kompany because I know him very well, I put him in the first team in Anderlecht when he was 17 years old,” Broos added.
“I know him very well – but it’s not the time for that, there’s nothing really problematic at the moment, he’s doing what he has to do, bringing him in slowly. And that’s the only way to do it.”
“It will be a very big difference from what he knows from Belgium from what he knows now, certainly the second division in England is… I saw the game where he scored last Saturday, ahhh, Wigan ahh, that’s half rugby, half football hey,” Broos stated about the style he’s adjusting to.
“Yeah, it’s ugh… when you see Burnley playing, they play football and they are so good that they win all the games but Wigan – unbelievable, but that’s good for Lyle hey, something new, he will progress, and I’m happy how Kompany brings him on, I’m happy.”
Foster has scored nine goals and registered five assists in 31 games across all competitions this season and scored his first Bafana goal last year in the 2-1 loss against Morocco.
