Pretoria – Mamelodi Sundowns have 40 days to decide whether they want to keep striker Katlego Mphela or not.
That’s the ultimatum from Mphela’s agent Glyn Binkin, who says if Sundowns don’t offer Mphela a new contract by the beginning of January he will go shopping for a new club. Mphela, who has warmed the bench for the better part of this season, has only seven months left on his current contract. Sundowns have yet to open talks with the forward.
“Come January the first, if they have not made an offer for him, we will look elsewhere. It would be irresponsible of us not to. My primary job is to secure the future of the player. Usually new contracts are done 18 months before the expiry. If the situation doesn’t change by January 1, we will look at other options. We have got options. Maybe things can change between now and January 1. We will wait,” said Binkin.
Sundowns coach Pitso Mosimane revealed that Binkin was pressuring them into offering the South African international a new deal.
“The challenge on the issue of Mphela is that the agent is putting too much stress on us on renewal of contract. We know Katlego’s contract is lapsing. We know, but we are calm about it. If he wants to sign with somebody else, he can. If he wants to stay at Sundowns and score goals he must stay. If he scores goals he can stay. We like him here. We know what Katlego is capable of doing. Obviously we will renew his contract, but he has to play for his contract. Everybody must play for their contract,” said Mosimane, after Mphela scored a brace in a 7-1 win over AmaZulu recently.
The latest ultimatum by Binkin could be seen as another pressure tactic by those at Chloorkop. Binkin says he has not been putting pressure on Sundowns to offer Mphela another deal. “I made an enquiry concerning the future of Katlego a few months ago and they said they will communicate with us,” said Binkin.
With Downs’ Mosimane giving new recruits – Katlego Mashego, Cuthbert Malajila and Rodney Ramagalela – preference, Mphela has had to make do with a place in the stands and on the bench.
Killer, as Mphela is affectionately known, used to be Mosimane’s number one striker at Bafana Bafana and was partly the preferred marksman at Downs last season. With minimal game time, developments around Mphela are of great interest from some of the country’s top teams.
Kaizer Chiefs, SuperSport United and Orlando Pirates have their sights on Mphela. All three are likely to jostle for the signature of the fearsome forward in the next transfer window in January. Binkin did not want to comment.
“All that has been out there is just speculation. No one has contacted me. There’s nothing formal,” said Binkin.
This season Mphela has not played for more than 30 minutes. His warming the bench and Sundowns taking their time to offer a new contract, has cast doubt over his future at the club owned by billionaire Patrice Motsepe. Even Binkin has some doubts. “Perhaps they don’t want the player. They know what the player is capable of and I know what he is capable of. We will have to wait and see,” said Binkin, who is also managing Sundowns keeper Wayne Sandilands.
Like Mphela, Sandilands is also deprived of game time. Sandilands is yet to feature for Sundowns this season after losing his place to Zambian keeper Kennedy Mweene, who was signed at the beginning of the season. Binkin says his player has to be patient.
“He has to be patient. He is under contract. He is one of the good goalkeepers. He didn’t deserve to be dropped. The current goalkeeper has made a couple of mistakes but he continues to play,” said Binkin.
Pretoria News