How Mamelodi Sundowns can deal with foreign quota conundrum

Mamelodi Sundowns have already secured a number of important signings ahead of the new season but they have a problem.

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And that’s because they have exceeded their foreign quota for the new season with more than six foreign internationals on their books.

Brian Onyango, Divine Lunga, Gaston Sirino, Ricardo Nascimento, Mauricio Affonso, Peter Shalulile and Divine Lunga are the players giving Sundowns a headache.

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However, Onyango, who’s from Kenya, qualifies for the South African citizenship as he has been working in the country for over five years.

This means Sundowns have six players from whom one should be sacrificed to make room for either Lunga (Zimbabwe) and Safranko (Slovakia).

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And that process may not be as easy as it seems, especially because all their foreign internationals have existing contracts.

Sirino, of course, wants to leave for Al Ahly but Sundowns are reluctant to let him go, and he is back from Uruguay for pre-season.

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Shalulile and Nascimento are regulars, and it doesn’t look like any of them will be leaving Sundowns any time soon.

The only option Sundowns have is to let go of Affonso whose career has been plagued by injuries since his arrival from Uruguay.

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With Shalulile in top form, Kermit Erasmus and Gift Motupa finding their feet, and Safranko in the mix in addition to Thabiso Kutumela’s arrival, Affonso doesn’t seem to have space at Sundowns.

Should Affonso leave, Sundowns would have five foreign internationals in Shalulile, Safranko, Nascimento, Lunga and Sirino.

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And their foreign quota conundrum will be solved without sabotaging the work that’s already done by Manqoba Mngqithi, Rhulani Mokwena and Steve Komphela.