Has Lucas Ribeiro left Mamelodi Sundowns? Miguel Cardoso drops big hint

Mamelodi Sundowns coach Miguel Cardoso has dropped perhaps the biggest hint that Lucas Ribeiro has no future at the club.

Ribeiro has been the subject of interest from teams abroad since his starring role at the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup in June and he was reported to be close to joining either Brazilian club Fluminense or Qatar SC last month.

The two clubs were reported to have submitted offers to Sundowns for the Brazilian playmaker but no news has come out of the club regarding the player so far.

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However, Ribeiro has been absent from the matchday squad in Sundowns’ last two matches against Richards Bay and Chippa United as well as Tuesday's home clash against AmaZulu and when asked about his absence, Cardoso provided an update that suggests the player is no longer at the club.

What has Cardoso said about Ribeiro?

“Lucas was a very important player on this team, not only by the numbers [goals and assists] but by the way he was able to [get] the team to play,” Cardoso told SuperSport TV before Sundowns’ clash with AmaZulu. “

“We are trying to obviously, collectively, find solutions to deal with the absence,” he went on, signaling a need for reinforcements.

The fact that the Sundowns coach referred to Ribeiro in the past tense left many feeling that the player may have already left although his destination is still not known.

Another player whose future at Sundowns is uncertain is right-back Khuliso Mudau, who was also left out of the squad for a third straight match on Tuesday, and Cardoso also weighed in on his situation as well as the absence of Thapelo Morena, who is nursing an injury.

Sundowns coach putting on brave face

“There are other losses, our special right-backs, both Mudau and Morena are out of the team at the moment so we are going to go from there. The expectation is that we will be stronger, we were stronger and will continue to be stronger,” added Cardoso, expressing optimism that Sundowns will still challenge even without some of their star players.

Sundowns are currently dealing with an uneasy situation where some of their star players want out as besides Ribeiro and Mudau, Peter Shalulile is also attracting interest from clubs in North Africa.

It remains to be seen what will unfold at Chloorkop in the coming days and how the PSL champions, known for their big spending, will react.