Sidelined Mlambo facing Orlando Pirates exit

Things haven’t quite gone as planned for Orlando Pirates midfielder Xolani Mlambo, and it seems like they will not get better for the midfielder while he is at the Buccaneers, with an exit from the club a strong possibility at the end of the season, a source at Pirates has revealed.

READ MORE: Bafana star Percy Tau completes Anderlecht switch.

Mlambo joined Pirates in 2018 from Bidvest Wits with at lot of expectation on his shoulders. He enjoyed a fine first season with the Buccaneers, but it was this campaign that things started astray for the skillful midfielder.

The arrival of Josef Zinnbauer at the club last year in 2019 saw Mlambo being relegated to the bench, something the player is not familiar with since he  broke into top flight football at Chippa United.

“I don’t really understand why Mlambo wasn’t being used, but I guess one can’t question the coach’s plans for the team. Another thing is that he got what he wanted from the players he was using and the team was doing well,” said the insider.

“I don’t even see him playing much in the last few games with the league resuming, and that can only mean one thing. A player like him wants to play football regularly and he will certainly leave the team, unless the management thinks otherwise. For him personally, you can see even at training that he is not in a good space but he just doing his job because he is still contracted to the club.”

Mlambo was considered one of the best talents to have been brought in at the Buccaneers and many saw a potential Bafana Bafana player in him.

It’s not clear where the 29-year old Soweto born midfielder’s next destination will be, but there has previously been rumours of Kaizer Chiefs targeting him.

However, the source concluded that everything will come to light at the end of the season.

For more news your way, download The Citizen’s app for iOS and Android.