Mamelodi Sundowns News Today: Agent reveals Zwane’s contract pain, challenge to youngsters & more

Latest news about Mamelodi Sundowns, including behind the scenes intrigues before Themba Zwane’s new deal and a challenge to the club’s youngsters. 

Challenge issues to Sundowns youngsters

Mamelodi Sundowns’ young players have been advised to keep their feet on the ground and keep improving if they want to break into the first team

Sundowns have a number of youngsters such as Bennet Mokoena, Siyabonga Mabena, Kutlwano Letlhaku, Thato Sibiya, and Gomolemo Kekana but they struggle to get opportunities given the huge number of star players at the club.

“It is essential for young players to seize opportunities, knowing that there is always competition for starting spots,” ex-Sundowns striker Katlego Mashego told KickOff.

“For instance, Letlhaku featured in the CAF Champions League final; although he was substituted at halftime due to the level of play, this indicates that Sundowns provides opportunities for youth development despite the signings of players from abroad.”

Agent reveals Zwane’s pain before new deal

Themba Zwane’s agent Jazzman Mahlakgane has revealed how the playmaker was left in a spot of bother over his future at Sundowns as his deal was running out and he had not been given a new one.

Zwane signed a new one-year contract this month, keeping him at Sundowns for at least 16 years, but his representatives say he was worried about the slow pace of talks.

“He started sort of saying, ‘Hey, I’ve seen other players, this happened to them,’ and I told him that I would put my neck on the block that he would have a new contract and he would go to the World Cup. Both these things happened, but I must say it wasn’t easy (to get the new deal over the line),” he told Soccer Laduma.

“In fact, it’s public knowledge that when they came back from winning the CAF Champions League, he was asked about the contract, and his response was, ‘I’m not so sure.’ He was honest and brutal about it, but I gave him an assurance that I was talking to the club and I was not getting the sense that the horse had bolted. So I was getting the sense that there’s still a chance, and in the end, we got it done.”