Pitso thinking about new Brazilian striker
SUNDOWNS COACH SAYS THERE’S NO RUSH TO SIGN NATHAN
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Mamelodi Sundowns will not be rushed into making a decision on whether to sign Brazilian striker Nathan Junior, even if the champions are suffering from a crisis in front of goal in the same way as most other Premier Soccer League sides.
The former Portuguese top-flight striker could be the solution for Sundowns after the sale of Percy Tau to Brighton and Hove Albion in England and the inability to keep Khama Billiat, who did not renew his contract and went to Kaizer Chiefs instead.
Nathan Junior Soares de Carvalho (29), to give him his full name, has been on trial for several weeks with Sundowns.
“We are watching him, we are looking at him but we won’t make a decision right now, we are not ready. We are not under pressure to make a decision, but he is a good player,” confirmed coach Pitso Mosimane.
Sundowns cannot sign him before the January transfer window even though he is a free agent because they have already filled their quota of foreign players.
If they wanted him in January they would have to get rid of one of their five current foreigners: Ricardo Nascimento (Brazil), Bangaly Soumaharo (Ivory Coast), Toni Silva (Cape Verde Islands), Gaston Sirino (Uruguay) or Jose Ali Meza (Venezuela).
Nathan Junior is a product of the Rio giants Flamengo, but left their youth system to go to Cyprus and has since had a journeyman career in Latvia, Austria, Georgia, Russia, Portugal, Saudi Arabia and most recently Japan in the second division.
“I saw him play at Tondela when I recruited Ricardo. I went to Portugal to watch and I saw him play very well against Ricardo. He got a big injury, an ACL (anterior cruciate ligament knee) when he was in Japan and it’s not been easy to come back from that.
“So we cannot make a quick decision. We’ll see, we’ll make a plan if we have to.”
At Tondela, Nathan Junior scored 13 goals in 34 appearances in the Portuguese league in his best season.
He was also top scorer twice in Latvia and the best player in their league in 2011.