Sundowns must up bid if they want Manyama

Cape Town City owner John Comitis has not ruled out a move to Mamelodi Sundowns for their star player Lebogang Manyama, but has told the Brazilians they will need to raise their offer considerably.

Comitis has previously said that he would only sell the Bafana Bafana attacking midfielder to Europe‚ but appears to have left the door slightly open for Sundowns to steal in with a little over 24 hours remaining in the transfer window.

“We opened discussions with Sundowns because we have to be realistic about having a player here that is not happy‚” Comitis told Business Day.

“But the numbers they have proposed are far short of our valuation of the player. If you want the best player in the country, then you can’t be offering me what they did.”

Comitis said there was also an offer on the table “from Europe”‚ believed to be a club in Turkey. “I am still looking at that one to see if it is worthwhile and also waiting to hear what Lebo thinks about it.”

The deal “far exceeds what was offered by Sundowns‚ but…. [the Sundowns deal] could still happen”, Comitis said.

Manyama is in the Cape Verde Islands with Bafana ahead of their World Cup qualifier on Friday‚ making any possibility of a medical before the window closes on Thursday difficult.

Comitis does not expect any other business before then and says he believes he has cover if Manyama leaves. “I think I am done‚” he said. “If Lebo does not stay‚ I believe we already have enough here [in the squad] to continue to be successful and keep fighting to win trophies.”

Manyama was dropped from the City side that defeated Bidvest Wits 1-0 in their MTN8 semifinal‚ first leg‚ on Sunday‚ with coach Benni McCarthy believing he was not in the right frame of mind to play.

Manyama had been at training every day‚ “but I just feel like his mind was elsewhere”‚ McCarthy said.