Wits upstage them all in signing of Pienaar

The experience of Steven Pienaar will come in very handy for Bidvest Wits. For him to join a team that has a lot of senior players who all possess leadership qualities on and off the field, is a smart move. I also expect him to bring his experience in terms of guiding both the young and senior players.

His acquisition will add a lot of value to the club. The team will be expecting him to lead on the field of play, but I am expecting to see him perform key leadership roles as a former Bafana captain.

With Daylon Claasen, as young as he is, he can also bring his in- ternational experience because that will also inspire the other team members. Wits did well to get the quality and the calibre of these players. It will push the youngsters and improve their competitiveness because now they will be contesting starting berths with these players.

Orlando Pirates also did themselves a huge favour by bringing in a player like Thamsanqa Sangweni. He is a player who will help them next season as they are expected to turn things around. He will bring about the much-needed stability in the midfield. The centre of the park is the engineroom and that is where you help the team in terms of the build-up to attack, as well as the defensive role.

He is going to form the spine that has been missing from their team structure, more especially in the offensive role. We have seen the likes of Issa Sarr playing a good role in the defensive part, but going forward he has been struggling to connect with the attacking players. If he gels well with the team, Sangweni will definitely play a huge role.

This time around he is more of matured player compared to when he joined Mamelodi Sundowns in 2012, where he didn’t make it. This is another opportunity for him to prove himself that he is not just a player who can only play in the so-called small teams like Chippa United and AmaZulu. This is his final chance to showcase the fact he is among the best in his position.

Kaizer Chiefs brought in a host of players the previous season, but very few of them were regulars last season. The players they bought are good, but they have not reached the level that will help the team win trophies. When you look at the likes of Joseph Molangoane, you can see they have talent. But they have not settled well enough with their team-mates to make sure there is stability and consistency in their performances.

This time around Chiefs need to have a different approach in the transfer market. They are doing that with the acquisition of Bongolwethu Jayiya. He is a hugely talented player who played a key role in the success of Cape Town City. His mentality and his playing quality will help Chiefs to perform better.

Mamelodi Sundowns have not been active in the market yet. This may be because they are suffering from their own shortcomings. Everybody knows they used to buy haphazardly in the past, but this time around they bought quality and the team are producing good results.

Teams overprice their players when Sundowns come knocking. At the same time, teams are trying to hold on to their players to make sure that they remain competitive in the league.

At this moment, there are very few players who can match the quality and the level of Sundowns players. And those very few players are indispensable to their clubs. If they release their players, it will take their teams a long time to return it to a level whereby they can be self-sustaining in the league.