JOHANNESBURG - Cape Town City chairman John Comitis has ordered his star player Ayanda Patosi to lose weight and up his game.
Patosi, 25, joined the Citizens at the beginning of the season from Belgian outfit KSC Lokeren.
The attacking midfielder, who can operate on both flanks or behind the strikers, spent six years with the Belgian side and made over 100 appearances.
Patosi came to City with big expectations but has yet to make an impact.
“Lebo Manyama wasn’t a striker, he was playing behind the strikers, and that is Patosi’s role,” Comitis explained. "Patosi needs to stand and be counted because he’s got the ability and you see him in glimpses here and there.
"But he has to lose few more kilos. You can see the quality and he will get better and better as he becomes fitter and fitter. Once he is ticking, the whole team will tick even better."
Patosi injured his achilles tendon when City lost to Maritzburg United in KwaMashu on Tuesday night.
“He was a good six kilos overweight,” Comitis said. "It has taken him some time to adapt. He has got to get himself in to condition. He hasn’t been playing for some time.
"The PSL is not for faint-hearted, it is a very competitive league to play in. It is very fast. It takes players five to six months to adjust to this even though they were playing in Europe."
City were lining up another big signing in the January transfer window in Bafana midfielder Mandla Masango from FC Randers in Denmark.
“With Masango I had on principle agreed with his club on the terms to get him here. He could have been playing with us as of January, but at this stage we can’t match his demands. So he won’t be with the club in January unless his changes his views," said Comitis.
On Monday, agent Tim Sukazi confirmed that City were interested in Kaizer Chiefs goalkeeper Brilliant Khuzwayo and Comitis said they would love to get in talks with him, but not before next month as Khuzwayo is under contract.
Comitis is lining up three signings for the upcoming transfer window.
“I’m going to launch it in the first seven days (of the transfer window). You will see three signings but I’m keeping very quite," he said. "There’ll be two foreign players in that mix and possible one local one.
"For me we need to remain competitive. Players need to know that they’ve got to keep on working. Aubrey Ngoma is like a new signing for us.”