Mahlambi to stay at Wits
Phakamani Mahlambi will remain at Bidvest Wits until the end of the 2017/18 Premiership season.
Phakamani Mahlambi of Bidvest Wits (Ryan Wilkisky/BackpagePix)
This was confirmed on Tuesday by Wits CEO Jose Ferreira, who said they had received plenty of offers from Europe for Mahlambi’s services.
READ: No deal for Mahlambi in Portugal
The 19 year-old has just returned to South Africa after a three-week trial at Portugal’s Vitoria de Guimaraes, who have opted not to sign the talented forward for the time being.
“We have had a lot of interest in Phakamani from Europe, from France, from Belgium, from Turkey and from Portugal and some of these clubs are bigger than Guimaraes,” said Ferreira on Tuesday.
“The reason we sent him to Guimaraes is that we wanted him to go to a European club that would allow him to play regular football. It doesn’t make sense for Phakamani to go to a club over there and not play. Guimaraes are playing in the Europa League and we felt he had more chance of playing there than any other club.
“They (Guimaraes) liked him, I spoke personally to the coach at Guimaraes, but they were looking at keeping him for two more years and he wouldn’t go straight into the (first) team. So we thought it was in his best interests to spend one more year in South Africa.
“There has been more interest from Europe in the last few days but we have taken the decision to keep him for another season and take it from there.”
Wits coach Gavin Hunt said Mahambi still needs to regain confidence lost since he injured his Anterior Cruciate Ligament during the 2015/16 season.
“We all forget he was out for eight months, he came back last season and helped us, but he hasn’t been the same, so we need to build his confidence. We need to get him settled down, there has been all this back and forward. His potential is fantastic but certainly we need to have a bit more patience.”
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