Mosimane: Not easy signing players from South Africa

by Staff Reporter

Friday Sep 30, 2022. 15:42

New Al-Ahli Saudi head coach Pitso Mosimane has revealed he is unlikely to sign any players from the DStv Premiership and will instead look to other African leagues.

The highly-decorated South African tactician ended his three-month hiatus last week when he penned a two-year contract with the Saudi Arabian club.

Mosimane brought Percy Tau to Al Ahly during his successful 20-month stint in the Egyptian capital, while he also attempted to acquire the services of Gaston Sirino from former employers Mamelodi Sundowns.

However, ‘Jingles’ was priced out of a move for Sirino and admitted that is one of the major stumbling blocks in doing deals with top-flight teams in South Africa.

He claims it is much less of a hassle to sign players from Congo, Nigeria or Ghana and suggested the lifestyle in the Western Asian country isn’t suited to his compatriots.

“If there’s an opportunity in the next break [January transfer window] maybe in future we can always look around and see what we can bring,” Mosimane told the media in Sandton on Thursday.

“It is always good to bring SA players into those market spaces but it’s very difficult to bring them to that space in the Middle East. It’s not an easy thing because they need to adapt, social life is different.

“If you need a player [go to] Congo, Nigeria, Ghana or other spaces. I am telling you, it’s easy to do it that way. With the finances also, it’s easier to get a player from those countries than it is in SA.

“The SA market is very difficult, the teams expect you to pay a lot of money, that’s the challenge. The transfers are big here – you’ll speak R13 million and players don’t move. I tried to sign PSL players when I was at Al Ahly but I couldn’t because it’s $5m, I mean really? It’s not easy.”