Mamelodi Sundowns head coach Miguel Cardoso, has provided clarity on why the reigning Betway Premiership champions chose not to delve into the transfer market in the lead-up to the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup.
There was considerable buzz, particularly around a potential move for promising Bafana Bafana and Stellenbosch left-back Fawaaz Basadien. However, as had been confirmed by Chairman Thlopie Motsepe last month, the club ultimately decided against bringing in any new faces.
Cardoso's remarks detail the reasoning behind this deliberate choice, suggesting a focus on internal strength rather than external reinforcements for the prestigious tournament.
‘IT MADE NO SENSE’
“We didn’t have a lot of time to train, for example, let’s think about African teams; Wydad, they got, they didn’t play Champions League and had their championship decided pretty soon, even changed the coach,” he said as quoted by iDiski Times.
“So, there was a moment of rebuilding the team and justifying to bring in new players to start the new process, Ahly, the same situation with new coach, new moments, new training – so why not, if there’s a new style of philosophy, why not bring in new players?
“The question [of not signing players?], we played the Champions League final and we had to fight until the last second of the last match – and after that we never had much time to train, so bringing in new players, or pieces that could fit the puzzle directly, or having to move the puzzle to fit the piece? It made no sense.”
’WE NEED TO DEVELOP THE YOUNGER ONES’
He continued, “That is what happened, so we decided to keep the squad, it’s a reality that we totally support and able to give us the condition we want to fight for the best result of the competition but at the same time also rewarding the players for what they did throughout the season.
“We were together and fought together until the end in the Champions League, if we fought together to watch the South African championship, why not bring the team all together to fight for something more.
“The team of next season will be based on the players who are in the squad already, so we need to continue to develop the younger ones and work with the ones we have, then let’s see what the market has, what we can bring to reinforce, there’s always reinforcements but let’s think about that in the future.”
