‘Don’t goto Sundowns’ – Kekana tells teenage star

Former Mamelodi Sundowns captain, Hlompho Kekana, has sent a big message to Mzansi’s rising star, Shandre Campbell of SuperSport United.

NO MAMELODI SUNDOWNS FOR SHANDRE CAMPBELL SAYS HLOMPHO KEKANA

Campbell is a very famous youngster in South African football. The 18-year-old shot to fame this season after scoring five goals and creating four in 22 appearances. The Gqeberha-born star has thus become a subject of speculation about his future.

According to former Sundowns skipper Kekana, Campbell has a long road ahead of him, and Chloorkop is not the right direction he should take.

“We are talking about an 18-year-old, We can’t give him that responsibility of lifting a team as massive as SuperSport, so let’s be honest. He still needs a lot of work to do in terms of his game and his consistency and performances in the league if he wants to be among the best players,” Kekana said on SoccerZone, as quoted by Goal.

“So, I can discuss his performances and the things that he does, but I don’t see him as a complete player yet. For me, if he would like to improve, he must go overseas, that’s where he will be nurtured properly.

“He must not join a home team because if he moves from SuperSport to Mamelodi Sundowns, he will still be in the same league. Even there in Europe, he must go to a proper team, not in any average team or small league,” the Sundowns legend concluded.

PLANS FOR EUROPE

Meanwhile, Campbell’s agent, Mike Makaab, shared similar views in January: No Sundonwns.

“Shandre is earmarked for Europe – his ambition and dream is to play at the highest level possible in Europe. We already have a number of European clubs monitoring him and his progress,” said Makaab via SABC.

“This very much depends on the player’s desire, which we will support without a doubt. Look at our national team, fewer players are going to Europe and we wonder why at times we can’t compete with other African countries. The majority of their players are in the top leagues in Europe,” Makaab added.

“Nobody in their right mind would compare the quality of Europe with the PSL. We need to get players with supreme talent to the European market as soon as possible. There’s sadly not enough that are playing at this level.

“We are heavily involved in his future and are very close to his family. All these things we discuss with his family. He is a young adult and their input is vital. But the most important thing is understanding his upbringing and the effort put in by his father. You can then understand why he has such amazing talent…these things don’t happen overnight. It can be [seen] as overnight success, but that’s over 10 years of hard work. It’s exactly that with Shandre, who is dedicated to his craft and is doing well at school. We could see him playing in Europe sooner rather than later,” Makaab concluded about the Sundowns-linked youngster.