Mamelodi Sundowns coach Manqoba Mngqithi has offered a glowing endorsement over two of their newest signings ahead of the new season.
Sundowns have roped in four new signings in the off-season – Arthur Sales from Lommel SK, Kobamelo Kodisang from Moreirense, Kegan Johannes from SuperSport United and Aseko Tiwani from Sekhukhune United.
This coincided with 13 exits from the first team as they looked to streamline their squad, as Thabiso Kutumela, Gaston Sirino, Bongani Zungu, Promise Mkhuma, and Brian Onyango were among the players released.
Nyiko Mobbie and Junior Mendieta were sold to SuperSport United and FC Volos, while six players were loaned out.
“I think we brought the right players for the team to be honest, starting with Kodisang,” he said on the Pitchside Podcast.
“He’s still a little but unfit, but you can see what the boy is capable of, one v one he is very good and he had some good finishes as well, he works very hard, a natural winger that is able to play 10 in a 4-3-3 formation if you want full-backs to be high and wide.
“But if you want isolated wingers, you have him and Mabena, they are good in wide channels, Lesiba [Nku] also shown some very good signs, Maseko also in that space.
“Sales the striker, he has something, many people say he’s very tall, I don’t think he’s very tall, he’s a bit skinny, 1.84m, it might deceive defenders because he has a very good leap but what I like the most about him is his first touch, he has a very good first touch.
“A Surprise [Moriri] first touch, I think it’s good and an eye for a goal but more than anything else, he’s intelligent, he sees things early and he gets into painful positions at the right time, he’s not there before the ball is played, it makes him dangerous, left-footed but I saw him use his right which is encouraging, but he’s got something,” he added.
The Brazilian forward, 22, is clearly the marquee signing and there’s optimism that he could have a similar impact as Lucas Ribeiro Costa, having played at the same level before his arrival in South Africa.
“I’m not too sure about his adaptation, sometimes our league is too fast for these guys, but with a good personality, good work ethic and a very good boy, it will be easy for him to get on with the group and then it will be easy to adjust because we have a Brazilian [Costa] who they know from Belgium,” he added about his personality.
“We laughed the first time we saw Sales in Austria when one of the coaches asked do you know Lucas, and he said we always played against them but Lucas team was always chasing the ball. So he has a sense of humour, believe me, he will be a good addition to the club.
“When you look at an attacker you always ask, 1v1 can he do something? Because sometimes we have a striker everyone talks about but if you can’t trust that in a 1v1 he will do something for us, then we must always wait for support or wait for something he can put into the net, but that one can deal with an opponent.”
Sales scored 18 goals with five assists in 50 games for the Belgian Challenger Pro outfit before his lucrative switch to Choorkop.
