Mamelodi Sundowns find themselves in a tight corner with their foreign player slots, as they are edging closer on signing Matías Esquivel.
The DStv Premiership champions find themselves in a situation where they will have to free up a foreign spot for the Esquivel, who’s expected to arrive in South Africa in the coming weeks.
Downs currently have five foreign spots allocated by Boutouil Abdelmounaim, Marcelo Allende, Lucas Ribeiro, Junior Mendieta and Abubeker Nassir and they can’t add more, which leaves no space to register Esquivel.
But a source confirmed to this publication that Downs are looking at different options, including registering Mendieta or Allende as a locals due to their salary and net worth.
This won’t be the first time happening at Sundowns, as it happened years back with Dutch defender Alje Schut, who was being registered as a local due to his high net worth.
Schut was registered from the start of his time in South Africa as a local, without the usual five-year waiting period before residency is granted.
Another option would be to loan one of their foreign players out this January window, with sources indicating that striker Nasir might go out on loan to gain some game-time following his injury troubles.
The DStv league leaders are expected to return back to training on 22 January after a three-week break.
