What are the facts?

It was reported in February 2021 that Otladisa had been offered to Chiefs, during Gavin Hunt’s brief rein at the club. At the time, the dribbling wizard had his contract with Sundowns terminated by mutual consent.

After Hunt exited Naturena, the matter went quiet, with the player subsequently penning a three-year deal with Gallants, and in January this year, club chairman Abram Sello denied any contact for both Ndlondlo and Otladisa.

“Everybody just writes to do news hype. No, no – we are not into that. We want to build up our club as well. For now, there is nothing. Remember we still are placing building blocks here. And then it’s not that we won’t entertain the market at the right price, but for now, let’s allow us to build them, have quality, develop them and then maybe we would consider (selling players). For now, no, there is nobody being sold. Ndlondlo too. It’s just stories. No, we have not been approached. It’s just speculation or wishes from those who want to see that, but there is nothing now – we will see in future,” Sello told TimesLIVE, although Ndlondlo was subsequently sold to Pirates a few months later.

In April this year, the player’s agent, Nimrod Mbhalati of Nida Sports Agency, confirmed that there had been interest from one of the Big Three in the player’s services, but he was not at liberty to disclose names.

“Look, for now the boy is contracted and he is fully committed to Marumo Gallants, but in football, you can never

say never as you know it’s a game of surprises. He wants to see himself doing better… that’s the conversation we always have, you know. We all know that he did good last season, but he wants better for himself and he can actually do better for himself and I know he is working extra hard to achieve those goals and get those stats right. Maybe a national team call-up is on the horizon, who knows?”

Otladisa’s spell at Sundowns did not work out as planned for the player, which ultimately saw him negotiate his exit from Chloorkop in 2020 despite having three years left on his contract.

“I had two broken fibulas in my time heading to Sundowns. I was still recovering from an

injury. During my loan spell,

I had another setback again, so it was pretty difficult and whenever I told myself that this is it, I am going to be playing for a long period, I get another setback. So, it kinda hit me, where I kept thinking it’s another injury where I have to build up again, go through rehab and all those processes. It was really difficult, but I guess it was for me to grow. I see it that way now,” Otladisa said of his time at the club in an interview with Soccer Laduma in February.

However, he has grown tremendously since then and is not the young player who left Sundowns two years ago. Many of the players of his generation struggled to make the grade at the club, with only the likes of Sphelele Mkhulise still within the fold.