What are the facts?

In just less than a year, Maluleka will be able to sign for a club of his choice on a pre-contract, with Sundowns favourites if he does decide to leave Chiefs. Often, Amakhosi have proven that they don’t like to be rushed into negotiations – they take their own sweet time. But sometimes that’s costly. Itumeleng Khune, Tefu Mashamaite and Mandla Masango were all accused of holding the club to ransom four years ago when they were pushing for bigger salary packages. In the end, only Khune returned to the club – cap in hand – to eventually agree to the terms Chiefs offered. They don’t like being bullied at Naturena. To date, Ramahlwe Mphahlele, Bernard Parker and Kgotso Moleko, to name but three, are still yet to sign contract extensions at the club. What will work in Maluleka’s favour, however, is the fact that he is enjoying a purple patch under coach Middendorp. The midfielder has made more starting appearances since the German was appointed in December than during the five months Giovanni Solinas was in charge at Naturena. He has also been handed the captain’s armband in big games against SuperSport United and Orlando Pirates in the Soweto Derby. Expect Middendorp to put in a good word for ‘Mido’ when asked by management of the players’ value to the team. All that considered, Chiefs have always done good business with Sundowns, and it is usually worth their while financially. Lebese’s move to Chloorkop meant Amakhosi pocketed R4 million for a player that was no longer a regular, and given Sundowns’ hot pursuit of Maluleka, the offer could be slightly higher. Personal terms for Maluleka will also influence how quickly negotiations can begin, forcing Amakhosi to possibly make a decision about his future before the end of the year. If Chiefs do tie ‘Mido’ down to a contract extension, then Downs could have to accept that they might have to make an incredible offer for Amakhosi to sell or move on to another midfield target in the calibre of Maluleka. This will of course be dictated to by how Chiefs react in the coming months.