Tembo gives Modiba his blessings to join Sundowns
You are free to go – that is essentially the message from SuperSport United head coach Kaitano Tembo to hi star player Aubrey Modiba, whose move to rival side Mamelodi Sundowns appears to be inevitable.
Khama Billiat of Kaizer Chiefs and Aubrey Modiba of Supersport United during the Absa Premiership match between SuperSport United and Kaizer Chiefs at Mbombela Stadium on March 15, 2019 in Nelspruit, South Africa. (Photo by Dirk Kotze/Gallo Images)
The Brazilians have been on the heels of the 24-year-old for some time now and Matsatsantsa A Pitori are willing to allow Modiba to switch allegiance and jump ship to the yellow side of the capital city.
Speaking to Phakaaathi, Tembo – in a rather sentimental tone – echoed United’s chief executive officer, Stanley Matthews’ utterances about letting the Bafana Bafana player go. Ideally, United SuperSport would fight until the bitter end to hold on to Modiba but given their current financial challenges owing to the dent on the economy under Covid-19, Tembo says they are cornered to let go of one of their valuable assets.
“It has to do with our situation in the club and if you look at a player like Aubrey, a lot of clubs have been after him. It is no surprise because he is a player with a lot of quality and we also have to balance the books as well. You cannot deny him that opportunity to further his career, we will always try to support him,” said Tembo.
“If it happens we will gladly accept that and he will go with our blessing because he is a really good player and he has done well for us and he has never given us any problems. I have always been happy to play with him, he is a quality player who gives you options going forward, he gives you goals, he creates goals, he is good with set-plays. It will be sad to lose him but at the same time we have to start to think ahead and he has to think about his future as well. It is football, players come and go,” Tembo added.
Selling Modiba will do United’s coffers a great deal seeing that the former Cape Town City star signed a four-year deal earlier this year, meaning Sundowns will have to dig deep into their checkbook to buy Modiba out of his contract.
For more news your way, download The Citizen’s app for iOS and Android.
