Mamelodi Sundowns chairman Tlhopie Motsepe has explained why the club extended Themba Zwane‘s contract.
Zwane ,36, signed a new contract extension with the Brazilians last week after the side secured their second CAF Champions League title. The new deal confirms his stay until 2027 with an option to renew for a further year.
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Zwane has won 15 major trophies at Sundowns – nine league titles, four domestic cups and two CAF Champions League trophies, being one of only two players at the club to achieve the African feat alongside Denis Onyango.
Speaking on The Pitchside Podcast, Motsepe said the club saw an opportunity to give back to someone who has been dedicated adding that Mshishi epitomises Sundowns football.
“You know it’s important to get the chance to always make sure that when you have players who’ve given so much of themselves, so much of their career to the club, like Themba has, it’s not always that you get the opportunity to reward such careers,” said the chairman.
“Football can be a beautiful thing sometimes, but sometimes also it’s a bit unfair. You don’t get to time these sort of things or find the perfect moment to show appreciation.
“But we knew that after what the captain had done in the past for us, 15 years of dedication for this club, he’s a player now that you know he came here at 21 years old. 21 Jump Street Shika came here to the club.
“15 years later we can say that he’s become a player that epitomizes Mamelodi Sundowns football. When you think of shoe-shine and piano, when you think of Sundowns football, you think of Themba Zwane.
“And that in itself is very special. So, for us, it was our way of saying, thank you so much for everything that you’ve done so far in this club. We knew that Shika wanted to stay.
“We knew that he wanted to make sure that he had another year to do his best for the team. And so, we wanted to just reward the loyalty he’d given us in the past by showing loyalty through our contract.”
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