AmaZulu coach Pablo Franco Martin cleverly ducked the question that the club is interested in two Moroka Swallows players – striker Tshegofatso Mabasa and defender Bongani Sam.
Swallows chairman David Mogashoa told iDiski Times that Orlando Pirates, who Sam and Mabasa belong to, are “in talks” with AmaZulu over the duo, and Swallows might not be able to count on them when the season resumes in February next year after the Africa Cup of Nations that is taking place in Ivory Coast.
“You are asking the question in a very clever way, hey,” said Martin with a smile and much of the media laughing in the background.
“Because I know what you are talking about or what you mean. We are interested in any single player in any position, who can improve the team.
“If there are opportunities, not only in that team [Swallows] but in the rest of the teams because we already know the league because we have scouted the players because we know the players who could improve our team.
“Right now, we need to do our work as well and to check overseas to check some of the options for foreign players.”
The Dube Birds are in the middle of a storm now, as they canceled two of their games against Mamelodi Sundowns on Wednesday and that against Golden Arrows on Saturday due to unpaid salaries of players in December.
The players demanded that their salaries should be paid before Christmas Day but in their contracts, it is stipulated that they are paid at the end of the month, according to Magoshoa.
As no solution was found, the players downed their tools, and the club asked the league to cancel both matches. The points from these games are likely to be awarded to Sundowns and Golden Arrows, as part of the punishment including a monetary fine that may come with it.
Meanwhile, Martin emphasised the point that Usuthu needs to get their targets quickly into their setup so they can adapt and adjust to their style of play before the resumption of the season in February.
“You mean the one we are expected to come? Of course, the sooner the better,” Martin said, though he didn’t want to divulge the names because that will look to be disrespectful to the team they belonged to.
“The same way we want some players, some of the teams are asking those players. The players we asked five weeks ago for them they are not going to the national team [to the AFCON].
“If they can start this mini pre-season with us, we are not going to have too much time, and much better to adapt them to our ideas and to know them and to help our players understand them, to try to create this bond between them which is important to perform.”
Usuthu ended 2023 with an emphatic win as they thrashed Royal AM 3-0 at the Moses Mabhida Stadium on Friday night.
