OPINION: Cape Town City mean business

Any ambitious football club chairperson in the world will tell you that it’s better to get your business done early in the transfer market.

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That means you identify your targets ahead of time and get the deals over the line quickly.

Procrastinating will almost get you into a bidding war with your rivals, especially in the South African Premier Soccer League.

The financial imbalance between bigger teams and so-called smaller clubs is huge and the market is not kind to those who don’t know what they’re doing.

PSL clubs with less resources shop at the same window and their options are limited as opposed to Mamelodi Sundowns, Orlando Pirates and Kaizer Chiefs.

As far as the current local transfer market in the PSL is concerned, Cape Town City have made some good early signings ahead of the 2024/25 season. I take my hat off to the Citizens chairman John Comitis and his backroom staff. It looks like planning started before last season ended and that is very commendable.

Eric Tinkler was so critical of their own error of judgment regarding their recruitment strategy in January earlier this year by calling some of their acquisitions panic signings. He called for the club to improve in order to be competitive and challenge for the league championship.

It looks like the club from the Mother City means business ahead of the new campaign with as many as eight new players that have been brought in.

Former Bafana Bafana midfielder Kamohelo Mokotjo is enough to get any City fan excited and his arrival will raise expectations of at least a top four finish. Comitis is also targeting a cup competition this season and judging by their activity in the transfer market, Tinkler will be under pressure to deliver.

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I can assure you that heads will roll if City doesn’t do well in any of the three PSL cup competitions on offer. It has been six years since the club last won silverware and it won’t be business as usual should the drought continue.

Founded in 2016, City wants to assert themselves as the biggest club in the Western Cape. Having seen Stellenbosch FC win the Carling Knockout and qualify for the Caf Confederation Cup in the 2023-2024 campaign, playing second fiddle to Stellies is not on the agenda this time around.

The 2018 MTN8 champions have also brought in Fortune Makaringe from Orlando Pirates while highly-rated Haashim Domingo arrives in Cape Town following a stint in the Botola Pro League with Raja Casablanca in Morocco.

If Comitis manages to keep top striker Khanyisa Mayo at the club, Tinkler will have a competitive squad and an improvement on their fifth position finish last season goes without saying.

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The coach already has a couple of exciting youngsters like Jaedin Rhodes to blend in with the new faces at City. Will this be the season where the ambitious club gets back to winning ways or will Comitis be faced with a tough decision to make? Only time will yell but City fans are within their rights to expect something special from this group.