Sundowns fans loving life. Photo: Samuel Shivambu/BackpagePix
Sundowns poach 12-year-old ‘Messi’ in Cape Town
Sundowns have snapped up a 12-year-old talent nicknamed ‘Messi’ but Cape Town Spurs aren’t best pleased with how they did it.
Sundowns fans loving life. Photo: Samuel Shivambu/BackpagePix
Mamelodi Sundowns have snapped up 12-year-old Cape Town Spurs talent Hlumile ‘Messi’ Tshaka. They employed some sneaky tactics to do so. Kaizer Chiefs fans will find this funny.
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Sundowns steal Cape Town Spurs talent
According to SABC Sports’ Mazola Molefe, Spurs are unhappy with the way Sundowns went about their recruitment of the player, to the extent that Sundowns scouts are no longer welcome at the club’s famed training facility, Ikamva.
“Sundowns is currently a force in SA football and has built a reputation of the highest standard,” Spurs said.
“The incredible resources that they have can be used to scout young players from every corner of this country.
“Our relationship with Sundowns over the years has been incredibly strong hence our surprise that at no stage were we contacted by them to inform us of their interest in our players,” the club added.
“When we wrote to them stating our concern almost 2 months ago, and again a week ago, after the recruitment of 12-year-old, Hlumile Tshaka, we did not even receive an acknowledgement of our communication to them.
“This is not the same Sundowns we have become accustomed to working with over the years. The Sky is the limit! The Sky is not at Ikamva!” they concluded.
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Lionel Messi has almost singlehandedly changed the fortunes of David Beckham’s Inter Miami franchise. He’s steered them to the MLS League Cup, their maiden trophy, scoring 10 goals in seven games in that competition. Messi earns $20.4m annually (R390 million) making him the division’s top earner. Former Barcelona teammate Sergio Busquets earns a cool $1.8m annually (R33.8 million).
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Former Kaizer Chiefs man not doing too badly
Meanwhile, Njabulo Blom is the second-best-paid South African in the MLS, earning $338k annually (R6.4 million) with Minnesota United FC’s Bongokuhle Hlongwane outstripping him with earnings of $610k (R11.6 million). Former Sundowns striker Cassius Mailula earns $291k (R5.5 million) annually. Not shabby at all.
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