What are the facts?

Sundowns are determined to win another CAF Champions League title and they will stop at nothing to ensure that they have the perfect squad to make this happen. The club has made it clear that they are competing on a different level, which is why they have been going into the market to get players to bolster an already star-studded side.

This has, however, triggered conversations, especially on social media, around the fact that they are weakening the league. The club’s chairman, Tlhopie Motsepe, recently gave a comment on this, saying players “want to join Mamelodi Sundowns”.

“I don’t know where the criticism has come from in that regard. Players want to come to Mamelodi Sundowns because Mamelodi Sundowns is a place where they can improve themselves and achieve their dreams in football.

“We have had the blessing and opportunity to honour an incredibly special player in Hlompho Kekana, but when Hlompho Kekana was at Mamelodi Sundowns, he was playing and competing with Teko Modise and he was competing with guys like Tiyani Mabunda, who is right here with us. Iron sharpens iron, but the fact that these players want to come to Mamelodi Sundowns is because they want to achieve their dreams and improve as players.”

COVID-19 affected a lot of the clubs in the PSL, especially those who do not have sponsors, so selling their best players to a club like Sundowns has been the best way to sort out their financial problems.