Former Sundowns star down on his luck after injuries

It is unclear when or indeed if Phakamani Mahlambi will return to football after his release by Mamelodi Sundowns.

The player’s agent has revealed that Mahlambi is in no fit state to sign for a club.

Former Sundowns striker still a free agent

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Hit hard by injuries, Mahlambi has struggled to control his weight and seen multiple clubs reject his services.

The player’s representative Glyn Binkin is hopeful that if Mahlambi can get back in shape he could sign for a PSL club.

“Phaka he is training at the moment just by himself to get fit,” Binkin told KickOff.

“He was injured for a long time as I said so he is training now to get fit so we will see. At the moment he is in Gauteng where he is training by himself. We haven’t even looked for offers because first, he must get fit.

“We will have to see, I can’t say he won’t play this season. Because as soon as he is fit he can play. Ja [he is available on the market] but first he must get fit.”

At just 25-years-old Mahlambi has already garnered a reputation for being a squandered talent.

Having burst onto the scene as a teenager, many believed things went awry for Mahlambi when he agreed to a move to Al Ahly while still a teenager.

A task not fulfilled

That deal was a bust and a return to Sundowns was negotiated with Pitso Mosimane confident of shaping the rough diamond at the time.

“Ey Phaka (Mahlambi), ey I have a lot of work to do with Phaka,” Mosimane said.

“Phaka… eish he’s raw, raw, raw, huh. Phaka we are starting to coach him on how to play football at the club.

“Of course, he’s got the speed, he can shoot, and he can score. And we wanted Phaka’s speed to get behind Wits.

“Same as Wits, they had (Fagrie) Lakay and (Deon) Hotto to use their speed and they got what they wanted because Lakay went beyond Wayne (Arendse) and you saw that.

“So that’s what we wanted (with Mahlambi) also, but yeah what can you do? You’ve got to accept. It’s the way it is.”