Cape Town City head coach Eric Tinkler says the club will resist offers from the DStv Premiership in the off-season after a remarkable run since the turn of the year.
The new-look City squad after losing a host of first-team players were touted to fall down the table as the likes of Bradley Ralani, Fagrie Lakay, Adbul Adjugan, Dove Edmilson and Aboubakar Mobara were all previously integral parts of their first eleven.
However, they opted to freshen up the time with relatively unknown figures in South African football as Brice Ambina, Darwin Gonzales, Idumba Fasika, Parick Fisher, Mogamat May and several talents from the DStv Diski Challenge were promoted.
City have seen their standout players like Lebogang Manyama, Aubrey Ngoma, and Lyle Lakay leave in the past but Tinkler, who is on a record ten-match unbeaten feels they are now ready to retain their core squad as they look to break into the CAF Champions League or Confederation Cup next season.
Cape Town City’s Eric Tinkler says they want CAF Champions League football.
The Citizens' ten-game unbeaten run in 2022 sees them just one point behind Royal AM with four games remaining.
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“I think, ultimately, myself and the chairman opted to make the changes when we made them and those seven changes that moved on, the ones we brought in, we said to ourselves this is what we are building on,” Tinkler said in response to iDiski Times.
“Nobody is for sale [for next season], but there’s always a price. If something massive comes for one of our players overseas, sometimes you can’t turn that down and for a player themselves, that’s got to be the objective.
“Locally, you shouldn’t be wanting to move locally, you want to be moving internationally, so as a club – that is something we will never turn down, obviously if it’s at the right price.”
The Citizens face Chippa United, TS Galaxy, AmaZulu and Stellenbosch in their final four league outings for the 2021/21 campaign.
