Mosimane in the business of making millionaires
It is more than just football for the Mamelodi Sundowns coach as his drive for success on the pitch is paired with his desire to create financial comfortably for his players.
Phakamani Mahlambi with Mamelodi Sundowns coach Pitso Mosimane (Pic Sundowns)
It is no secret that Sundowns, who are owned by billionaire, club president Patrice Motsepe, is among the club who handsomely reimburse their players in the whole of the Premier Soccer League, but Pitso Mosimane is treating his players like rough diamonds, who he polishes up and elevate them to greater heights.
Keagan Dolly, Bongani Zungu and Percy Tau are such players that Mosimane recruited as raw talent and molded them to star players in the Absa Premiership before he sold them to European suitors, and have gone on to become big earners in Europe.
Next in line is Phakamani Mahlambi after Mosimane described the former Al Ahly attacker as an “investment”.
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“Phakamani is not supposed to win us the league, he is a big investment for us. He will be able to get us an investment that we got from Keagan and from Zungu,” said Mosimane.
“The main important thing is to turn the boys into millionaires because we come from poor background. Take Lebogang Maboe from Maritzburg United, turn him into a millionaire, take Percy and turn him to a millionaire like we did with Keagan and Zungu. That is what drives me because they must go back to their families and improve their lives… it is more than football,” he added.
Mahlambi joined Downs for a reported R13-million transfer fee from the eight-time African champions Al Ahly, and when the former Bafana Bafana coach is done polishing him, he says he will get back that R13-million and turn the ex-Bidvest Wits man into a millionaire himself.
“He is turning 21 this year and there is a lot of work we have to do. We will get there, we still have to teach him and he is a good boy, he is going to learn. We got them when they were 20 years old. Where are they now? The future is bright. Khama Billiat came to us at 23 and the level that he is at now shows that he has matured and he is a good player. We worked on him for five years.”
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