JOHANNESBURG - Manqoba Mngqithi has lifted the lid on the future of Gaston Sirino, saying Mamelodi Sundowns will listen to offers for the Uruguayan international as the "club doesn't want to kill his career”, although he’s shown great commitment during pre-season.
For the better part of last season, Sirino was heavily linked with a move to Egyptian giants Al Ahly where he would reunite with former coach Pitso Mosimane. As a result, both he and Mosimane also admitted the interest to reunite on various media platforms.
But that reunion was subjected to Al Ahly and Sundowns agreeing to terms for the transfer of Sirino. In what came as attempts to push Sundowns’ hand to accept the transfer, Sirino was spotted wearing Al Ahly’s jersey after the two teams met in Cairo, Egypt.
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That didn’t go down well with the Brazilians’ faithful, given that the team had lost that Champions League first leg semi-final match 2-0 before losing the tie 3-1 on aggregate. But nonetheless, Mngqithi says they’ll not stand in the way of Sirino if offers come.
“When he came back from Uruguay, he looked interested and committed to play within the club. He looked serious with his training but unfortunately, he got a knock on his knee which was a great one. But he’s back with us this week,” the co-coach said.
“But we haven’t seen how he’s going to come up. But the truth of the matter, in terms of the outlook, it doesn’t look like he wants to leave. But I think the club is very clear in that space that if he has to leave, and people are interested, they must bring an offer.”
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Mngqithi added: “The club is very considerate. The club doesn’t want to kill Gaston’s career. That is very important from the chairman, the board and technical team. If he doesn’t want to play for the club, and people come with offers, the club is willing to take them.”
However, despite the door opened for Sirino to leave if the right offer is tabled, from the technical team’s point of view “the boy looks good in terms of the commitment. I (Mngqithi) don’t have any issues with him and the coaches are also very happy with him.”
With Mosimane said to be already closing in on former Sundowns’ talisman Percy Tau who’s been struggling at Brighton & Hove Albion, Sirino might have to settle for offers from elsewhere or refocus on Sundowns, given that he’s still got four years left on his contract.
The Brazilians will open their new season on Sunday where they’ll host arch-rivals Kaizer Chiefs in the quarter-final of the MTN8. The Tshwane giants are searching for their first MTN8 title in 14 years, albeit dominating domestic football for the last eight seasons.
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IOL Sport