Durban - AmaZulu owner Sandile Zungu has revealed details surrounding the shock return of defender Ramahlwe Mphahlele to the club, while Keagan Buchanan is said to be on his way back as well.
Mphahlele, 33, was confirmed to have departed the club, alongside Buchanan (31) just two weeks ago as both players were deemed surplus to requirements by then coach Romain Folz.
However, in a surprising turn of events, Mphahlele was spotted back at the KwaZulu-Natal club’s training base last Wednesday.
He also was an unused substitute as AmaZulu snatched a point late against Cape Town City on Sunday.
Zungu, who also moved Folz to a technical director role while Ayanda Dlamini took over as interim coach in last week, explained that ‘Rama’s’ reintroduction was down to Dlamini’s discretion even though the defender left the club.
“Ramahlwe is on the payroll of AmaZulu and it is entirely up to the coach to decide on when to use his players,” Zungu exclusively told IOL Sport.
Mphahlele looked to have rediscovered his form at Usuthu this season, making a total of 22 appearances - three as a substitute - across all competitions and was integral in their run to the MTN8 final.
While the man at the helm for the rest of the season Dlamini welcomed Mphahlele return, he also confirmed that he would be recalling Buchanan for the final stretch of the Premiership campaign.
“Rama has been very good for us. I don’t remember a game where he didn’t do well for us since he came. Keegan also has not played as much, but he is a very good player with his experience. So I said they should come back,” Dlamini said.
“It reminds me of a situation I first took over, in 2019-20, there were players that were suspended, Major (Lehlohonolo Majoro) was one of them, and quite a few others, (Thembela) Sikhakhane was one of them and we managed to save the club.”
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