Mamelodi Sundowns head coach Miguel Cardoso has confirmed the signing of Portugal midfielder Miguel Reisinho.
The former Boavista midfielder will join his compatriot Nuno Santos – who made his debut today in the 1-0 defeat to Golden Arrows, as their two marquee signings of the window that has just passed.
With the 26-year-old being a free agent, he will be able to be registered outside the window period, and comes as exciting additons to Masandawna which by Cardoso’s own admission was tough deals to get over the line.
“I think in the next one or two days, he will [be] unveiled, we tried to reinforce the team, it was clear that we needed to reinforce the team in front and it was hard work, tough, until the last moment [of the window],” Cardoso said when asked by iDiski Times.
“These kinds of players, which such quality, it’s not easy [to sign], and by the history, there’s not much history of players coming from Europe from such level, entering South Africa – even the African market. So the business was difficult.
“Let’s see if we can finalise, I think everything is in order to allow us to announce him, and together with Nuno and with the players we have, we had, and the ones who went to the [U20 World Cup], when we have the whole group we will be stronger…”
Cardoso feels the depth that the squad has will now be improved, having seen 14 players leave the club, with four signings as part of an effort to trim the squad and bring in more youthful options into the senior set-up, which offers the likes of Kutlwano Lethlaku, Siyabonga Mabena, Thato Sibiya and Bennet Mokoena potentially get more opportunities this season.
But also have options on the bench that can make a genuine change to the match, which has not been seen in recent games, as Sundowns finished their fixture at the King Zwelithini Stadium with an xG of 0.36.
“As you understand in the beginning of the season, Sundowns always struggled in terms of changes, substitutions, it was always difficult to enforce the team from the benh, and I think now we will be in a more comfortable position, after having the whole group together of the World Cup, with the return of the five players who went – we’ll be in a comfortable position to develop and to face the season,” he added.
“It;s a pity that many months passed and games were played, but this kind of business is very difficult to make quickly and probably at the beginning of this market it would have been impossible to bring those players, but sometimes the market bring opportunities and we were pretty lucky, with hard work from the club, and efforts to reinforce the team and become stronger.”
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