Downs poach another South American star
Mamelodi raiding the Sundowns South American are not market, done Sowetan has learnt.
Nicknamed the Brazilians, the Tshwane side has signed many South Americans in the past including their current defender Ricardo Nascimento from Brazil and Uruguayan midfielder Gaston Sirino.
They’ve also previously had Venezuelan Jose Torrealba, Chilean Jorge Acuna and more recently, Colombian
Leonardo Castro, who has moved to Kaizer Chiefs.
Sundowns have now set their sights on defensive midfielder Leonel
Justiniano from Bolivian side Bolivar. This is the same team they did business with for Sirino.
Bolivar officials including team manager Vinicius Eutropio have already confirmed that Justiniano will be heading to
South Africa
for the 2018/19 season, but attempts to get confirmation from Sundowns drew a blank yesterday. Justiniano, 25, is a defensive midfielder who would probably be Hlompho Kekana’s long-term replacement. Kekana will turn 33 in May. Sundowns have also been linked with 27year-old Andile Jali, who looks set to return home after four years in Belgium. Jali is also strongly linked with his former team Orlando Pirates. Questions will be asked whether Sundowns would be able to add another foreign player. They had to move Algerian left-back Fares Hachi and Ivorian Yannick Zakri to Chippa United and Ajax Cape Town respectively in order to accommodate New Zealander Jeremy Brockie and Sirino. Sundowns’ registered five foreign players at the moment are Brockie, Sirino, Nascimento, Brimah Razak [Ghana] and Bangaly Soumahoro [Ivory Coast]. The rest of the foreign players in the team like Denis Onyango, Kennedy Mweene and Khama Billiat are registered as locals having spent five years or more in the country. Sundowns, however, have always found a way to accommodate their foreign players. In 2012 the club found a loophole to add Dutch defender Alje Schut to their roster.
Schut was granted permanent residency in Home Affairs’ category of financial independence.
In this category, a foreigner with a net worth of R7.5-million may be granted permanent residency.