Former Chelsea legend Salomon Kalou on the PSL standard: It is impressive to see how South African football has progressed

Salomon Kalou is envious and impressed by the standard of South African football.

The Chelsea legend speaks highly of the Betway Premiership and the general professionalism of the Premier Soccer League.

“The South African league is impressive, you see how the national team is filled with players who play at home, they play in this league, from Sundowns, Pirates, Chiefs – that’s the players who represent the national team,” Kalou said at the Johannesburg ExPo centre.

“That shows how strong the league is and how well those teams are developing talent and you can tell with the results of the national team – that South Africa is coming back to the level it used to be – since the Golden Generation in ’96, we have been waiting for South Africa to get back to where they belong.

“And they are coming back now, the league is showing that, I’m impressed by the stadiums, it’s nice, the players are very professional, that should be an idea for us back home, in Ivory Coast for example.

“Like it would be great for players to come home and finish where they started after Europe, you have that opportunity here, we don’t have that – so we’re a little bit envious of players here, because you can come home and finish your career or even start it here.

“Having that opportunity [at this standard] is not always available in all countries in West Africa, we don’t have these opportunities.”

The Kaizer Chiefs-Orlando Pirates match today starts at 3.30pm at a sold out FNB Stadium.