Four-year contract for Berg at Downs?

Mamelodi Sundowns chairman Tlhopane Motsepe on Monday confirmed the arrival of Flemming Berg as the club’s new sporting director.

He said it was another new era for the reigning DStv Premiership champions after the role had been left vacant for nearly two years following the sudden departure of Jose Ramon Alexanko in 2020 due to family reasons.

Before that, Erik Hamren was the technical director, between January 2018 and August of that same year, and left to become the Iceland national team head coach.

Motsepe said Berg, who has an impressive CV showing how he recruited some of the best young talent in Europe, understood the winning culture at the Chloorkop-based side and would help take them to the next level.

The chairman, however, did not reveal details of the Danish administrator’s contract terms when he unveiled him to the press.

Soccer Laduma has been led to believe that Berg has signed a two-year deal with an option to have it extended by a further two seasons pending the outcome of the project, which includes “enhancing the clubs’ developmental structure and to provide leadership on talent development and football methodology”.

Downs also want the 49-year-old to have an input on which players the club brings on board and if they are the right profile, and it remains to be seen if he will be on the same page with the three wise men – Manqoba Mngqithi, Rhulani Mokwena and Steve Komphela, all part of the technical team that won the title last season and look set to retain the trophy in May.