What the Siya crew has been told…

Mamelodi Sundowns are dominating South African football in more than just one way at the moment. With the trophies to show off in the cabinet, the club also has the luxury of spending money on players that they have on their wish-list.

And by doing so, they have kept quite a few clubs in the league running with the transfer fees from the players they have signed.

Various club chairmen have spoken about the tough economy in recent years, where clubs prefer to sell players to cover for any losses, and then go for free agents to avoid having to pay exorbitant transfer fees.

While there is a monthly grant from the PSL, and sometimes sponsors to help, it’s not always enough to keep clubs running. So, selling one or two players, with big transfer fees, is another way to make sure the finances are balanced. And with Sundowns always ready to spend money, it often makes sense to sell to the last season’s treble winners.

Before the close of the transfer window, Cape Town City offered Terrence Mashego to the Brazilians, while Kaizer Chiefs were linked to the player, knowing that they would probably be the only club in the league willing to pay top dollar. As reported by the Siya crew, Sundowns forked out just over R10 million to secure the services of the former TS Galaxy player from the Citizens and this is money that would no doubt come in handy for the Cape side.

Crossing the city, Soccer Laduma has it on good authority that SuperSport United have used their strong relationship with Sundowns to balance the books. In the last three seasons, Matsatsantsa have sold Aubrey Modiba, Grant Kekana, Teboho Mokoena, Sipho Mbule and Ronwen Williams, making well over R40 million in the process.

It’s been reported on numerous occasions that SuperSport have considered selling the club, with more than one source revealing that this was, in fact, a serious possibility. But being able to sell these players to Sundowns and balance the books has helped to ensure the club remains in the PSL, unlike the likes of Bidvest Wits and Bloemfontein Celtic, who are no longer in the topflight after being sold.

Maritzburg United is another club that has secured big money from Downs in recent times from the

sales of Rushine De Reuck, Thabiso Kutumela and Lebohang Maboe, making over R20 million from the transfers.

The Siya crew has also been informed that, in some cases, players are offered to the Brazilians before the club actually shows official interest because the clubs know that the Tshwane giants would be willing to pay a big transfer fee.

It seemed to be a similar scenario last week, as revealed in this week’s edition of Soccer Laduma, where Marumo Gallants had offered Ndabayithethwa Ndlondlo to Sundowns before selling to Orlando Pirates.

This is how some of the clubs in the league are able to either pay off the debts they have or put the money in other areas, such as bringing in other players who will later be sold at a big profit.

The likes of Maritzburg, Leopards and Free State Stars, before their status was sold, have done this well over the years.

It’s understood that clubs also take the opportunity to cash in on players who have little time left on their contracts. It’s unusual for South African clubs to offer their players new contracts well in advance. Some

players sign pre-contracts with bigger clubs, so it usually makes sense for chairmen to sell to ensure they do not lose out on a transfer fee.

Information also coming through to Soccer Laduma revealed that some clubs actually increase the fee of a player once Sundowns show interest, because the club can ‘afford’ it. This often leaves clubs such as Chiefs and Pirates, who are at times interested in the same players, backing off because they feel the transfer fee is a bit too steep.

This is how some clubs have made money from Sundowns over the years and have been kept afloat.