Cardoso explains Sundowns’ Portuguese double swoop

Mamelodi Sundowns coach Miguel Cardoso has explained why the club turned to Europe in search of reinforcements after securing the signatures of Portuguese duo Nuno Santos and Miguel Reisinho. 

The pair joined the Chloorkop-based outfit amid high expectations, having already built reputations in Liga Portugal. Santos was a central figure at Vitória de Guimarães before completing a move worth a reported R20 million, while Reisinho became available on a free transfer after leaving Boavista.

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Bankrolled by billionaire owner and CAF president Patrice Motsepe, Sundowns entered the fiercely contested European market to strengthen their squad following the departure of several key players, most notably reigning PSL Footballer of the Season Lucas Ribeiro.

“His (Santos) club needed to release players and make money to manage their own organisation. Nuno also wanted a challenge abroad that could provide him with different opportunities and the name of Sundowns seduced him after the FIFA Club World Cup and also due to the fact that I’m a Portuguese coach,” Cardoso explained.

“It’s important that we understand that it’s not easy to bring these kinds of players. We were able to wait for the end of the market and not only waited for them but we waited for other players and things didn’t work out. At the last minute, these two opportunities appeared and let’s hope they can impact the team the way we want them to.”

Santos has already impressed, producing a man-of-the-match performance in the 4-1 victory over Richards Bay, his second appearance for the club. Reisinho, meanwhile, is in line to make his debut in the Carling Knockout last 16 tie against Marumo Gallants this Saturday. 

“The situation of Nuno and Miguel is not the same because Nuno was training and playing too but Miguel was training but not playing officially. Miguel had a couple of opportunities that didn’t work out,” Cardoso added.

“That gave us the opportunity at the last minute to bring him in as a free agent. He (Reisinho) trained with us and he was with us in camp and that was for him to adapt. We have a friendly match and he will play 30 minutes and we have a full week so let’s see how he responds.

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“Our intention is to bring in the players as quickly as possible to them. If he shows adaptation and capacity, then we won’t have problems because we need players upfront, where we’re lacking the capacity to substitute players.”