Johannesburg - While there was still uncertainty on Wednesday regarding the future of Bidvest Wits midfielder Sibusiso Vilakazi, who has been linked with a move to Mamelodi Sundowns, Mogakolodi Ngele edged ever closer to moving in the opposite direction.
Ngele will join Wits after requesting a transfer away from Absa Premiership champions Sundowns two weeks ago.
The Botswana international’s move to the Clever Boys is expected to be a sweetener for Wits to eventually release Vilakazi, whose price tag of just over R10-million has been the stumbling block in him joining the Brazilians.
Ngele travelled with Sundowns to Egypt where they beat Zamalek 2-1 in a CAF Champions League group phase clash on Sunday night, but did not play.
“We are ecstatic at the fact that Ngele could finally be joining Wits and getting game time. The chances of the deal going through are high, with the only thing outstanding being the nature of how it will happen,” said Tim Sukazi, who is the player’s agent.
“It could be a swap deal involving a Wits player (believed to be Vilakazi), a direct deal or even a season-long loan agreement. The negotiations are really picking up momentum and we are confident that Ngele will be playing his football elsewhere next season.”
Ngele made just 14 appearances in all domestic competitions last season, with only five of them in the starting line-up, and feels this is not enough for him to carry on playing at Sundowns, where he still has a year left on his current contract.
It appears now that his request to revive his career at another club has been approved by coach Pitso Mosimane.The Brazilians mentor, meanwhile, arrived yesterday from their emphatic win in Cairo full of praise for players who have taken their chance on the pitch when he has thrown them in at the deep end.
He did not make direct reference to Ngele, but suggested that those left out in the cold in the club’s championship winning season and in their ongoing continental sojourn had only themselves to blame.
“I will always be honest with my players, if you have talent and work hard I will let you enjoy the right to play. I sleep well at night, I put whoever deserves to play in the team,” Mosimane explained.
“I don’t have favourites. Someone can say they are not getting game time, but at Sundowns if you don’t fight, you will sit in the stands. I always say anybody can do it, but it is up to the player. Look at Tiyani Mabunda (scorer of the opening goal again Zamalek). What an unbelievable story. I feel like I also have to interview him to ask how he has come out from nowhere to do so well. And it is not just him, there is plenty more in this team.”
Cuthbert Malajila is another player set to join Wits from Sundowns to convince the Clever Boys hierarchy to let Vilakazi go.Mosimane also argued that South African teams, with Sundowns needing a single point from their remaining two group matches to qualify for the semi-finals, were now poised to clinch a continental competition.
“We are not too far, and you see it with Bafana now playing the big boys like Cameroon away and getting the results. Yes, they let it slip in the last moments, but it shows we are very safe now and have players who can compete at the highest level, which is the Champions League,” he said.
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The Star