Stellenbosch FC head coach Steve Barker says the new signings has kept balance in the squad, having lost an influential member of their starting line-up ahead of the 2025/26 season.
Last week Stellenbosch confirmed the transfer of Ivory Coast defender Ismail Toure, who made a lucrative move to the United Arab Emirates with Baniyas, and the club most swiftly to secure his replacement in the form of 22-year-old Belgian centre-back Henri Stanic from FC Balzan.
Sihle Nduli is another player that was lost, as he joined Orlando Pirates upon the expiry of his contract, while Brian Onyango, Thulani Mini, Shaakir Ahmed and Liam de Kock were released.
The club has also signed left-back Turan Manafov from Azerbaijan, Siviwe Nkwali from Cape Town Spurs, the Golden Boot winner of the second-tier last season, Muzomuhle Khanyi from Hungry Lions, while Simthandile Sishi was promoted from the reserve team.
A notable effort to improve their defence ahead of the new campaign, while speculation remains rife over the long-term future of defensive stalwarts, Fawaaz Basadien and Thabo Moloisane.
“Yeah no I’m quite pleased with the balance of the squad we have now, but the market is still open and still a while to go, but generally, the players we have brought in, Henri comes in after we lost Toure… he’s got a good background, youth development at Anderlecht, played at a good level,” Barker said about the latest signing to iDiski Times.
“He only arrived [on Monday] so we still have to integrate him, so Muzi Khanyi, Siviwe Nkwali have fitted in very well and obviously some of our younger players from the DDC which we have promoted, easier transition for them, having been with the club…
“But yeah I’m happy with everyone that has come in and looking forward to working with them.”
Stellies arrived this week for their pre-season in Gauteng and kicked off with a 2-0 win over TS Galaxy at Marks Park on Tuesday afternoon, with Basadien netting from the spot and Ashley Cupido adding the second.
Barker was left pleased by the overall level of the squad, while the return of Bradley Mojela in the opening half was a welcomed boost for their upcoming season, after recovering from a long-term injury.
“Yeah I was pleased with the performance against Galaxy, we didn’t have too many opportunities to play training matches back home, so it’s good for us to come up to get some dry weather training and play against quality opposition,” Barker said.
“I was pleased with the performance, everybody got sort of 45 minutes and important for us, not far away from our first match in the MTN8 quarter-final, so this week was designed to play a few training matches, get the players up to a good level.
“We showed good quality, there’s obviously areas to improve on which we will take away from the game, just analyse and keep improving in the next training matches coming up.”
On Saturday, Stellies continued their pre-season with another friendly, beating Siwelele FC 6-2 in a match that was played over three halves of 30 minutes.