Mbekezeli Mbokazi's agent, Basia Michaels, revealed to ESPN that the South Africa centre-back chose to sign for Chicago Fire FC for the simple reason that the MLS club made him feel welcome.
Mbokazi, 20, was one of Bafana Bafana's standout players at the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) in Morocco. National team head coach Hugo Broos has caused controversy by repeatedly criticising his move to Chicago Fire from Orlando Pirates, claiming he should be in a European league.
Michaels has suggested that European clubs undervalued Mbokazi in the transfer market, allowing Chicago Fire to sign him for a fee of around $3 million. However, she told ESPN that the transfer was not only motivated by finances, but also Chicago Fire's attention to detail in accommodating him.
"They sent me some 60-page dossier. I didn't know who Chicago Fire was myself. When I was first approached, I said: 'Ok; cool - looks nice, looks interesting.' I went through the document they sent me," Michaels told ESPN.
"The first conversation I had with them was not anything to do with money. It was the basics of how he's going to live life day-to-day. When they could give me certain assurances and tell me that they were going to put certain things in place, it didn't matter the system that they had.
"The system is great - it's lovely. The U22 initiative has various different aspects that pertain to it, but for me, my focus was purely on the client that I have and how my client would benefit from certain requirements.
"For example, food - it's a very basic concept. People would be like: 'Why would you negotiate food?' It's very important. I need to make sure that at all points in time; my client is fed, has a roof over his head, has the ability to get to training, will be helped to get to training [etc.]"
Michaels explained that once she had the assurances she needed regarding Mbokazi's lifestyle, she felt confident to discuss finances and playing time with an understanding that she was speaking to a club who valued her client and was worth negotiating with.
"Those were the first aspects that were dealt with. That was before we discussed personal terms and before we discussed transfer fees," Michaels continued.
"Once that was ticked and all those boxes were met and all those targets kind of made sense to me [with] certain exceptions - you win some; you lose some - it just holistically had to make sense to ensure that he could live life day to day. Once that was done, the rest kind of falls into place because it becomes a lot easier."
Michaels said she was assured directly that Mbokazi was signed with a view to starting in the first team, but did not need much convincing by the time the conversation got that far.
Broos had claimed in December to have heard that Mbokazi would be playing in Chicago Fire's second team, but club sources refuted that statement at the time - with Michaels corroborating comments from those at and close to the Men in Red.
"I must be very honest with you: based on the approach and the manner in which they dealt with this transaction; there was no way that they were going to do half of what they did to make sure that they got the player that they got and they were going to use him for the second team. It makes no sense," she said.
"We obviously had to address the elephant in the room (playing time), but if you look at all the pre-season games they just did with the Coachella Valley [Invitational] that they've just done now, he started every single game.
"The coach (Gregg Berhalter) made it very clear to me that Mbokazi is a starter and someone that he wants and needs within his team. They didn't at any point say: 'We could use him in the second team.'
"It was very simple. [Berhalter said]: 'This is a player that we want. These are the targets that we want to achieve. Within achieving these targets, this then becomes the next step. From that step, we then have a third step in terms of the long-term goals that we put together in order to achieve the goals we want to achieve."
Crucially, Michaels claimed that the final decision came from Mbokazi himself after he visited Chicago for the first time.
"We had spent about six days in Chicago. When we got to the facility and did everything that we had done, we knew exactly [what the right move was]. There was no question about the fact that this was an eye-opening experience for both of us.
"It was like: 'Ok, cool. This is it.' This is a choice that he made. It's not like we signed [and] then, we went to Chicago. No - we did a full tour of Chicago, start to finish, and then, he was like: 'I'm going to stay.'"
Mbokazi's decision so far appears to have been vindicated, as he made a solid MLS debut from the start in a 2-1 defeat to Houston Dynamo. Mbokazi played almost the full game, making a goal-line clearance and block in quick succession late in the first half.
The Fire will host Montréal at Soldier Field on Saturday as Mbokazi has the opportunity to make a home league debut after a mixed but overall individually productive trip to Texas.