Cape Town City head coach Eric Tinkler has said they had already been planning for life after Khanyisa Mayo’s exit.
Mayo, City’s top scorer in 2022/23 and 2023/24, made a high-profile move to CR Belouizdad in Algeria, which was confirmed this past weekend.
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Speaking to the media ahead of City’s opening game of the season, the MTN8 quarter-final against Sekhukhune United, Tinkler explained that they weren’t going to stand in the way of the player.
“Ja obviously, Mayo had two very, very good seasons,” Tinkler told the media on Monday.
“And there was always in the press every week literally that ‘Mayo was going to [Mamelodi] Sundowns, Mayo was going to [Kaizer] Chiefs, Mayo was going here, Mayo was going there’.
“And I’ve said this before, as a club we will never stand in the way of a player progressing and bettering his life, so we’ve always had to be aware of that situation.”
Tinkler explained that they had already been planning for Mayo’s potential exit for some time now and are currently waiting for the arrival of Amadou Soukouna, the former Maritzburg United playmaker, who has seen his arrival delayed due to VISA issues, but Tinkler says he also has other options available to him.
“And a lot of people assume we’ve done our scouting last minute dot com, but we started our scouting a long time ago, in terms of who we want to bring in, who fits the profile, who has the personality, who has the characteristics, and so we have a replacement for him, who unfortunately, right now, can’t get in the country because he’s banned,” he added.
“But we’re hoping to resolve that situation as soon as possible. The youngster Jody [Ah-Shene] has really stepped up, has really done well so far during the pre-season, so we’re very happy with the progress that he has made.
“We’ve sent Luke Daniels on loan because we felt that he needed more game time.
“And then obviously, we have Prince [Tjiueza] who has come back from injury who can play as a nine or a false nine. So we have the options available to ourselves there.”
City take on Babina Noko in the last eight of Wafa Wafa at the New Peter Mokaba Stadium on Saturday, August 10, as they look to book their semis spot alongside Orlando Pirates and Stellenbosch.
