Exit looming for Sundowns’ ‘expensive’ flop?

Mamelodi Sundowns midfielder Erwin Saavedra is set to leave the club at the end of the season, Mgosi Squad has been told.

The Bolivian international has not been quite the hit that the club were hoping him to be as he has spent most of his time in the casualty ward instead of being on the pitch.

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Saavedra arrived at Sundowns in February last year and has played just 10 times for the DStv Premiership champions. “A player like Saavedra should add value to the club. You cannot be an import but there is nothing that you add to the club,” said a source.

“Some people at the club want him to stay, such as the coach, but the management do not want to invest in a player who does not produce the goods because these foreign players don’t come cheap at all,” the source added.

Saavedra’s history, however, does not suggest that he is a prolific attacker, having spent about eight seasons with Bolivar, the 27-year-old played close to 260 games and returned an underwhelming 47 goals.

Phakaaathi sources also suggested that the player is struggling to adapt to Sundowns’ training methods as he is usually injured. In South America, he was a key player in his team.

“The question is: is the player struggling to adapt to South African football or Sundowns are not willing to tailor their style to suit him? When he joined, he was allegedly promised that he would be a regular at the club but that has not been quite the case,” said a source.

“It is not the club’s fault because he is always injured now, both parties are exploring options to pull the plug or loan him out to one of the other teams in the DStv Premiership.”

Meanwhile, Sundowns are in action on Tuesday afternoon against Richards Bay as the league champions are looking to get back to winning ways on the local front. Sundowns come off the back of an impressive 4-1 win over CR Beloluizdad in the quarterfinals of the Caf Champions League.