OPINION: Lorch was right to choose one last giant pay-day at Sundowns

Thembinkosi Lorch’s move from Orlando Pirates to Mamelodi Sundowns was the highlight of transfer deadline day, though maybe not for Buccaneers fans, who would be forgiven for being upset that one of their best attacking talents has chosen to take the short trip to Choorklop.

This transfer, however, has been a while in the making, with Phakaaathi reporting as far back as October 2022 that Sundowns were trying to prise Lorch away from Pirates.

With Lorch’s contract coming to an end in June, Pirates have chosen to cash in on their man, rather than him leaving for free. Negotiations over a new deal kept stalling, and while one report has suggested Khoza is furious at Lorch’s decision, there is a pragmatism to cashing in on any player, when you realise he does not want to stay.

For Lorch, meanwhile, the decision to go to the wealthiest and most successful team in the country goes down as an absolute no-brainer. The skilful forward is 30 years-old, and this is likely to be the last contract from which he can draw full value-for-money. Lorch is wise to take a massive pay-day, with a move to Europe increasingly unlikely to materialise.

Sundowns present him with an opportunity to win a slew of trophies, to compete in the Caf Champions League ever year, pretty much guaranteed, andto give him a better chance of playing for Bafana Bafana.

After all, Sundowns’ strength has been a massive influence on Bafana reaching the Africa Cup of Nations last 16 this month.

There is a chance, of course, like many good players before him, that Lorch won’t be able to break through at Sundowns, whose strength in depth is frankly ludicrous. But it is a risk worth taking, and some credit has to go to Lorch for taking it.

The cloud over Lorch

The black mark on Lorch’s career will always be the guilty verdict last year for assaulting his ex-girlfriend, the verdict and three-year suspended prison sentence handled appallingly by Pirates, who barely held their own player accountable.

Yet in no way has this undoubted stain on his reputation damaged his popularity with the fans, who happily voted him as Man-of-the-Match in two consecutive Carling Black Label Knockout matches, when he was clearly not the best player on the pitch against Cape Town Spurs or Richards Bay.

Having effectively made Lorch R200 000 richer in a popularity contest, the Ghost have a right to feel even more peeved that he has left them. For Lorch, however, in a short career, the chance to make even more cash was understandably impossible to turn down.