Mamelodi Sundowns head coach Miguel Cardoso has confirmed the exit of defender Lucas Suarez after the club opted not to take up their option with Club Atletico Lanus.
Suarez, 30, arrived with much expectation as the new left-centre back as they looked to shore up their defence for the business end of the competition, having allowed Abdelmounaim Boutouil return to Morocco with Wydad Athletic Club.
However the Argentine, despite showing his technical prowess and ability to bring the ball out of defence with high intensity, had a couple of costly individual errors that led to goals – which eventually saw him dropped and fall out of favour under Cardoso.
“Lucas Suarez is not with us, it’s not a taboo, it’s a normal information I can provide, so from the moment we didn’t move forward with his option,” Cardoso explained.
“It’s a player that had his moments with us, we supported but unfortunately in the end, things didn’t work the way we wanted, it doesn’t mean he’s not a quality player, he is a quality player – doesn’t also mean that there was a mistake on being scouted.
“There wasn’t a mistake – the question is that the competition of centre-back is very tough in Mamelodi Sundowns and the line is so thin in being very important or not being so important, and as a foreigner that gives extra value.
“We evaluated him as a foreigner not as a centre-back and when you think about the composition of the squad in the future, eventually that’s where we stand on our position.”
Suarez racked up 14 appearances for Sundowns scoring one goal during his six month loan with the club since his arrival from the Argentina top-flight outfit.
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