The Star Early Edition

Bucs spurn Baroka’s TK overtures

- MINENHLE MKHIZE “If you look at our last eight matches we only lost one – to Lamontvill­e Golden Arrows. This shows that we got our momentum late. Obviously we are not going to be fooled by those results. “We will go to the market and get some experience

ORLANDO Pirates have rejected a bid from Baroka FC for their former marksman Thabiso Kutumela.

Two season ago Kutumela propelled Baroka to top flight football and won the ‘golden boot’ as top scorer in the National First Division as Baroka were crowned the NFD champions.

His displays attracted Pirates, who signed him before the end of 2015/16 season.

But the striker struggled to find his feet at the Buccaneers and spent most of last season warming the bench. This led to speculatio­n that he might be loaned out this upcoming season.

Morgan Mammila, Baroka’s CEO, confirmed the club were interested in Kutumela, but their bid was rejected.

“I don’t see Thabiso Kutumela coming to us. He belongs to Pirates.

“They didn’t give him to us. We understand their reasons and we accepted them. They have a plan for him, and we can’t fault Pirates for that. We were interested in the player but there’s nothing we can do if they have a plan for him,” Mammila lamented.

Last season Kutumela appeared in 10 matches for Pirates in all competitio­ns, netting one goal.

Baroka, without Kutumela’s goals, almost got relegated, only retaining their PSL status by winning the Promotiona­l Play-offs after finishing in 15th position on the log.

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