Fernando Da Cruz Set to Become Kaizer Chiefs Head Coach
Fernando Da Cruz has moved to the front of the queue to become Kaizer Chiefs’ next head coach ahead of the 2026/27 season, with talks advancing and the club’s technical clear-out paving the way for a new era at Naturena.
Chiefs reset the bench
A third-place finish in the 2025/26 Betway Premiership has not spared the current technical team. Chiefs have already confirmed the exits of co-coaches Cedric Kaze and Khalil Ben Youssef, while goalkeeper coach Ilyes Mzoughi and conditioning coach Majdi Safi have also departed in a sweeping reshuffle.
The changes are not cosmetic. They signal a club intent on tearing up a structure that had begun to feel temporary and transitional, and replacing it with something far more defined.
Within that context, two names quickly surfaced in the search for a new head coach: Frenchman Fernando Da Cruz and Portuguese coach Alexandre Dos Santos. Both have held discussions with the club. Both fit the profile of a modern, tactically astute mentor.
Yet the momentum is with Da Cruz.
The Frenchman steps into focus
FARPost understands that indications increasingly point towards Da Cruz as the preferred candidate at this stage of the process. The 51-year-old recently resigned from his position as Technical Coach at the Royal Moroccan Football Federation (FRMF), freeing him for a club role at precisely the moment Chiefs are rebuilding.
This would not be a cold appointment. Da Cruz knows Naturena, and Naturena knows him.
Two years ago, he worked inside the Chiefs environment as assistant to Nasreddine Nabi, who was still concluding his tenure with AS FAR Rabat at the time. That stint was brief but telling. Within the club, Da Cruz is understood to have left a strong impression through the structure, intensity and professionalism of his work.
Training sessions carried a clear blueprint. Detail mattered. So did tempo. People inside the building noticed.
Those weeks also allowed both parties to get under each other’s skin in a football sense. Chiefs gained insight into Da Cruz’s methods and temperament; he, in turn, became familiar with the club’s long-term vision and day-to-day realities. If an agreement is now reached, neither side will be walking into the unknown.
Door open at Naturena
Information received by FARPost suggests Da Cruz is open to taking charge at Chiefs should negotiations be finalised. With his FRMF chapter closed and his stock strengthened by his work in Morocco and at AS FAR Rabat, the timing aligns neatly.
For Chiefs, the recent overhaul of the technical department offers rare freedom. With co-coaches and key backroom figures gone, the club can construct a new coaching structure almost from scratch rather than simply plug gaps.
There is a clear intention to blend international expertise with local knowledge. Chiefs are believed to be weighing the inclusion of South African coaches and support staff around the new head coach, building a bench that reflects both the club’s identity and its ambition to compete beyond domestic borders. Discussions over the final composition of that technical team are ongoing.
Clock ticking towards Germany
The planning window is tight. Preparations for the new campaign are already gathering pace, and the calendar leaves little room for drift.
The squad is due to regroup on 22 June, a date that now doubles as a soft deadline. Chiefs expect to have their coaching structure in place before pre-season intensifies, allowing the new boss to stamp his authority from day one.
That authority will be tested quickly. In July, Amakhosi are scheduled to head to Germany for a pre-season training camp, where they will face European opposition in a series of friendlies. For any incoming coach, those games offer more than fitness checks; they are an early laboratory for ideas, combinations and standards.
Walk into that camp without a settled technical team, and the rebuild stutters before it starts. Walk in with Da Cruz and a clearly defined staff, and the tone of the season changes.
Squad rebuild gathers pace
While the coaching search dominates headlines, work on the playing squad has already begun.
Thabo Moloisane has agreed to join Chiefs following his departure from Stellenbosch FC, the first confirmed piece in what is expected to be a broader reshaping of the dressing room. More arrivals and exits are anticipated as the club looks to sharpen a squad that finished third but rarely convinced that it could sustain a title push.
The next few weeks will decide how deep that transformation runs. A new head coach, a new technical structure, a refreshed squad and a testing European pre-season: the pieces are on the table.
If Chiefs do seal a deal with Fernando Da Cruz, the question will not be whether change has arrived at Naturena. It will be how quickly he can turn all that change into a team capable of dragging the club back to the top.
