Saturday, February 8, 2025
HomeBetway PremiershipSeven 23/24 Transfers Which Didn’t Work Out So Far

Seven 23/24 Transfers Which Didn’t Work Out So Far

In last week’s iDiski Times, we took a look at some of the transfers that have happened this season that haven’t panned out the way many hoped they would.

In Edition 133, iDiski Times looked at a few of those signings, made at the start of the 2023/24 campaign, that haven’t quite paid off ON the field as of yet.

Who or what is to blame? Well, all cases are different. Is it the player? The club? The agent? Injuries or the medical departments? The coach? The changing of coaches?

Whatever the reason, these are a few players we were expecting big things from in the months that have just passed, but it hasn’t quite panned out…

Perhaps the most high-profile move that is causing consternation is that of Cassius Mailula to FC Toronto in US Major League Soccer. After an incredible debut season at Mamelodi Sundowns, scoring 19 goals in all competitions in just 34 appearances, Mailula’s star was on the rise, and his exploits had earned him a look in at Bafana Bafana.

 But the 21-year-old has hardly seen game time since his move in July, he’s made only three appearances. THREE! And all off the bench, meaning he’s played less than 70 minutes of football. 

It’s still early days but perhaps Bathusi Aubaas’ move to Sundowns was premature, and he could be progressing more had he remained at TS Galaxy longer. The 28-year-old had only recently earned a call-up to Bafana Bafana, but his chances at the national level have also declined since only making a handful of appearances this season, due to completion and injury. It was just the beginning of Aubaas’ international venture, and he showed that he could compete at that level. It certainly raised his stakes and was likely an influencing factor in why Sundowns signed him.

While he’s made six appearances in all competitions, he has only started once, that being in his solitary CAF Champions League appearance. It is a very different reality for the former Free State Stars players, who was a constant figure for Galaxy over the last five seasons, averaging over 25 games a season.

*despite last featuring in a game in September, Aubaas was included in Hugo Broos’ preliminary squad for the Africa Cup of Nations.

Lesedi Kapinga’s case is slightly different, but he too is struggling for game time at Orlando Pirates after leaving Sundowns. It’s been a few years though since he has got regular time, and it looks like he’s gone from being a fringe player at Chloorkop to being a fringe player in Soweto. 

In Kapinga’s case, I had personally hoped that after leaving Chloorkop, he would go to a club where he had less competition in his position. In three seasons at Sundowns, he only started ten games, while making 35 sub appearances.

Prior to joining Pirates, he also featured for Bafana Bafana at the Cosafa Cup, and he was linked with a few clubs before deciding on the Bucs.

But with injury issues as well, he’s featured just four times in all competitions, with just one start. The 28-year-old may still force his way into the reckoning, but one wonders whether the former Black Leopards player should’ve maybe made a move to a club where more game time was guaranteed?

After two standout seasons at Marumo Gallants, Katlego Otladisa could also be disappointed with the limited game time he’s got at Pirates. 

Otladisa, the former Platinum Stars and Sundowns winger’s decision to join the Soweto giants may come back to haunt him, because at the age of 27, he should be a regular, especially after resurrecting his previously promising career. 

But competition is stiff at the Bucs, and perhaps like Kapinga, he should’ve made a more lateral move to a club where he’d have been a guaranteed starter.

When it was announced that Victor Letsoalo was heading to AmaZulu, it felt like that could be a decent match-up. 

The 30-year-old striker’s move last season to Sekhukhune United hadn’t really paid off and I thought the Bafana striker could find some of that form he showed at Bloemfontein Celtic and Royal AM again. 

Two years ago Letsoalo was a regular for the national team, but his transfer movements definitely influenced why he started not getting call-ups. And at Usuthu, Letsoalo seems to have fallen down the pecking order, and one can understand why when players like Sede Dion and Chidi Kwem are finding the back of the net. 

Another I had high hopes for this season was Letsoalo’s new Usuthu teammate, Rowan Human, the former national under-20 captain. 

The former Bidvest Wits youngster, who spent a season in Israel, went through a bit of a dip last season at Maritzburg United, but towards the end of the campaign, he started showing his true potential. 

But he’s battled for game time at his new club, only making one start and six appearances off the bench. 

Efmamjjasond Gonzalez, better known as Jasond, joined Kaizer Chiefs at the start of the campaign but hasn’t quite found his feet at Naturena. 

The problem with joining a club that has its own dilemmas is that the Colombian could very well find himself on the outskirts soon and regret a decision to move to another continent. With limited game time, and changing technical teams, whoever is the next full-time Chiefs coach will not be someone who brought the 24-year-old in.

The frustrating thing for the player whose name is made up of the first letters of all the months in the Spanish calendar, is that prior to joining Chiefs, he went through arguably the best form of his career, scoring eight goals in three months in the Bolivian league for Real Santa Cruz.

You can read the full article by Rob Delport in Edition 133 of iDiski Times for free on the website below:

TRENDING

RELATED ARTICLES