WATCH: Maritzburg came close to signing Pirates striker Peprah

Ernst Middendorp has revealed that Maritzburg United wanted to sign Ghanaian striker Kwame Peprah, but their battle against relegation last season meant that they couldn’t seal a deal before Orlando Pirates made a move.

ALSO READ: Davids points to striking problems as Pirates suffer Champions League blow

Peprah ended up signing for the Buccaneers, and has had a decent first season in the Premier Soccer League, but it could have been different as Middendorp revealed that United were speaking to his people during the 2020/21 campaign.

“We had toward the end of last season a number of players (we were looking at),” said Middendorp.

“We were aware Thabiso Kutumela would leave and so on. Unfortunately it took until a draw against AmaZulu (on June 5) to secure our PSL status, meaning players ended up going to other PSL clubs, they didn’t want to wait.

“We had a lot of discussions, for example with Peprah in Ghana. My relationships in Ghana, with teams over there and with the people representing him meant there were a lot of discussions but in the end we couldn’t go forward.

“It is a little bit our situation again,” added Middendorp, whose side are once more involved in a battle against relegation.