Mahlambi on Downs wish list
With just days to the close of the transfer window‚ Mamelodi Sundowns’ bid to entice Phakamani Mahlambi to the club remains the subject of intense negotiations with‚ ironically‚ his former club Bidvest Wits at the heart of the matter.
Sundowns are trying to buy the prodigy from Egypt’s AlAhly but are only offering about R11.3m, according to sources. That would represent a major financial loss for Ahly‚ who paid R21.5m to Wits for his services 12 months ago.
Given that Mahlambi has not settled in Cairo‚ failed to make the expected impact and has already put in a transfer request‚ Ahly might be tempted to cut their losses‚ but not to that extent. Plus‚ they must pay Wits a sell-on fee of R6.6m for any sale of the player‚ irrespective of how much they receive for him.
Ahly want Wits to waiver this, but the Johannesburg club are allegedly not budging. They anticipated that when they sold Mahlambi he would go on and do well at Ahly and be resold to Europe‚ so they worked into the original deal the minimum payment as part of his next transfer.
It means if he does move, Mahlambi effectively must be sold for R28m in order for Ahly to break even on the deal.
If Ahly accept Sundowns’ offer and pay Wits‚ it would effectively mean they lose more than R16.55m on the deal.
Officials from all three clubs refused to comment‚ but agents are reportedly working hard to try and get the deal over the line before Friday’s deadline.
Sundowns coach Pitso Mosimane has made no secret of his admiration for Mahlambi’s talent and has been open about the club’s readiness to bring him on board. “I see Phakamani following the route of a 20-year-old Bongani Zungu‚ who we signed and went to Europe‚” Mosimane said recently.
“We had a 20-year-old we signed in Keagan Dolly, who went to Europe. The youngster Percy Tau‚ I think we had him from when he was a 17-yearold‚ he went to Europe.
“Does it make sense to sign Phakamani? I think it makes sense to sign him. We like him, but probably we can’t afford him‚” Mosimane said‚ in reference perhaps to Ahly holding out for a higher offer.
Sundowns do have some cash to work with after the sale of Percy Tau to Brighton & Hove Albion for a reported R53m‚ although some of that has already been spent to lure Venezuelan forward Jose Ali Meza to Chloorkop.