Mass player exodus expected at Sundowns

As Thursday’s Premier Soccer League (PSL) transfer deadline approached, Mamelodi Sundowns coaches are working around the clock to finalise the list of players who will be released by the club.

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While there might be one or two new faces expected to arrive at Downs, such as Moroccan defender Abdelmounaim Boutouil, co-coach Rulani Mokwena says supporters should expect a rather wholesale exit from Chloorkop.

Players like Gift Motupa, Jody February, Kermit Erasmus, are expected to be in the list of departures from Masandawana.

“We would have loved to have our business sorted by now,” said Mokwena.  

“The club will make an announcement in due course with regards to “AB”. We just have to be a bit more patient in that space. I think we will see more out-going than incoming moves. At this moment we have far too many players to continue to bring in more,” he added.  

Sundowns’ latest signing, Terrence Mashego, has already made his debut when he came off the bench against AmaZulu this past Sunday, and the Downs mentor reveals that Mashego was never really part of the targeted recruits.

“The left-back was not a position that we thought we need to strengthen when going into the new season. But the reality is that when special players become available in the market, you have to check whether all the boxes are ticked and he ticks all the boxes.

“Not necessarily because there is a decline in any of the left-backs but a special talent became available in the market and he fits the style of play, the methodology and personality. He also has the emotional connotation to Sundowns and Mamelodi,” said the Sundowns coach.

“That then says to you, when that type of talent is available, you have to go for it because that then becomes a talent that goes to strengthen a rival and makes them stronger. We are happy to have Terrence but we know that we can’t have too many players and at this moment the biggest business for Sundowns is how do we trim the squad and who do we let go.

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Mokwena added: “When you have far too many players, it speaks to how much competition there is because every player wants to feel that there is a reach to that position but when there is three or four players ahead of you in the perking order, that could lead towards demotivation and that leads to less competition on the training field, and that means less intensity which affects the result because the performance is then not so good.”