JOHANNESBURG - Mamelodi Sundowns are set to keep the majority of their star players who will be out of contract in June.
Sundowns mentor Pitso Mosimane confirmed that most of his star players will be plying their trade at Chloorkop the next season.
Abafana Ba Style have several players whose contracts are set to expire in June, including Themba “Mshishi” Zwane, Siyanda “Jojo” Zwane, Tiyani “Sugar” Mabunda, Tebogo Langerman, Leonardo Castro, Kennedy Mweene and Khama Billiat.
“Mabunda will sign. Zwane (Themba) will sign. Who else’s contract is coming to an end? Kennedy has signed. Langerman will sign. When I say they will sign, I mean they will sign. Siyanda Zwane has signed.
“Khama is on the edge. It is a different one. You know how it is like to take a player from another team. How do you recruit?
“Themba Zwane and Mabunda, you say to them ‘Leave that team and go to another team’.
“Do they want to play the kind of football they are playing at Sundowns? Is it the question of money here at Sundowns? So, where are you going?
“If Themba Zwane goes, where is he going? If you are going overseas, it is okay,” Mosimane explained.
Sundowns have lost two of their key players in the previous windows, Bongani Zungu and Keagan Dolly, who went to Portugal and France respectively.
'Khama will renew'
“If you are staying in South Africa, why must you move. Where is he is going? He knows he has to stay here. We will look after them because we love them. These boys have won the Champions League with us.
“Players are not stupid. Players know that as much as the contract is finished, they need to be looked after. They do not just wanna go, players go when they are unhappy.
“Is this team unhappy when they play football like this? No, you can have people playing football like this and they are happy. So, they will renew.”
Billiat has attracted interest from teams in Belgium, Saudi Arabia and Egypt, but Mosimane is confident that the Zimbabwean star will remain at Chloorkop.
“I think Khama will renew in my belief, because he knows that we need him and he knows that we love him. He knows that if he is not going to get that biggest contract somewhere else, he must stay here.
“But if he gets the biggest contract, you’ve got to understand football is a short career. If he gets all this money that people promise him, why not (let him go), he knows.
“We don’t market at Sundowns, players know. How can you market the product that is the right product? You know we play a different brand of football.
“You guys are also complaining about scoring goals, scoring goals. If you want goals, we need to attack. If both teams don’t attack, there are no goals, and we are saying strikers what-what.”
Billiat was not the part of the 18-man squad which emerged victorious against Lamontville Golden Arrows at Princess Magogo Stadium in KwaMashu on Sunday.
“Khama is injured. He has a patella (issue). He has been wearing a knee cap and they kicked him there, and you don’t want to risk him,” said Mosimane.
“We have to make sure we don’t risk him because we need him for Wednesday. Hopefully he makes it.”
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