JOHANNESBURG – Pitso Mosimane has confirmed his interest in Andile Jali and will be meeting with the out-of-contract Bafana Bafana midfielder to discuss the potential of him joining Mamelodi Sundowns.
“Of course, I like Andile Jali. He has the right football attitude, has a winning culture and when he feels disrespected, he always wants to show just how good he is,” Mosimane said yesterday.
While he would love to add the player, whose contract with Belgian outfit Oostende has just expired, Mosimane says the key factor in whether Jali joins the Brazilians will be the player’s eagerness to don the yellow and royal blue.
“My questions for him are: ‘Does he want to play for us?’ Does he feel excited about wanting to play for us?“ said Mosimane.
“For Jali, it is a question of whether he is going to be sulking, saying: ‘I didn’t come to sit on the bench’? Anele (Ngcongca) is humble and helps coach Thapelo Morena. These are the kind of guys who need to come here.”
“I need that from Andile. If I get that, then I know that Andile will be great. I love his attitude, he is a tiger on the field. But he must know that there is (Tiyani) Mabunda and (Hlompho) Kekana who already have chemistry and I can’t just get rid of that just for him.”
Jali, Mosimane added, should also be prepared to learn.
“I expect all my players to analyse their own games, I need them to give me two hours of their time to watch videos of matches and give feedback. If you come here and say: ‘But the coach at Oostende, we didn’t do that,’ then that’s a problem.”
“But we have a meeting very soon with Jali and another thing is I need to know I can afford him. Of course we need to respect him (and pay him what he is worth).”
Saying they will probably bring in just three new players into the team, Mosimane revealed that they have already signed Guinea Bissau international Toni Silva, who has played for the youth teams of Liverpool and Chelsea, among others.
Mosimane also revealed that he is resigned to losing Khama Billiant and will not be shocked if Anthony Laffor also left.