Mamelodi Sundowns' poor management is coming back to haunt them.

Nigerian striker Gbolahan Salami, whom they signed during the off-season, has pocketed millions of rands in settlement fees without kicking a ball for the club.

Sundowns parted with a cool R2.5-million when they bought Salami from Nigeria's Shooting Stars. They then had to fork out more undisclosed millions to terminate the three-year contract they signed with him because they had exceeded their quota of foreign players.

PSL clubs may only register five foreign players with the league.

Sundowns could also face another large settlement to former Ajax Cape Town defender Eduardo Ferreira, who wasn't registered with the PSL this season. He also seems surplus to requirements.

Born in Brazil, Ferreira has one more season left on his contract with the Brazilians.

Other players stranded at the Brazilians' headquarters include former Bafana Bafana midfielder Papi Zothwane, Koketso Mmotong and Tshepo Ramokala.

None of the three has been registered with the league.

A Sundowns insider revealed that Ferreira and Salami both sought compensation and wanted to be paid out for the remainder of their contracts.

As it turned out, Salami got his payout but Ferreira is awaiting the outcome of his settlement claims.

"A percentage of the signing-on fee was still owed to Zothwane and he was going to forfeit this had he taken his clearance and left the club," a source close to the player told the Sunday Times.

"He was also going to have to foot the bill for the injury he suffered while playing for the club. Now he's staying put to get the remainder of his package."

Said Zothwane: "Nothing has changed. I completed my rehabilitation with the biokineticist and will resume training from this week. I have spoken enough about this. There's nothing more to say.

"I am still a Sundowns player and will be here until my contract expires at the end of the season. Obviously it is frustrating not to play. I cannot be happy about the situation.

"I do not regret joining Sundowns; it's one of those things that happens to a footballer."

The problem at Sundowns is that there seems to be no communication between chief scout Trott Moloto, the management and the technical team. This saga will embarrass Sundowns president and SA's richest man, Patrice Motsepe.

Salami was signed before new coach Johan Neeskens arrived at the club. Neeskens was not impressed with him and signed foreign players Solomon Okpako from Nigeria and Zimbabwean Simba Sithole.

The other three registered foreigners at Sundowns are Nyasha Mushekwi, Elias Pelembe and Method Mwanjali.

Esrom Nyandoro qualifies as a local after spending more than five years in the country.

"The issue was dealt with during the off-season and the decision about the players was made by the coach," said Sundowns legal and commercial manager Yogesh Singh.

Singh refused to reveal the settlement fee with Salami. "I cannot divulge the details on how the contract was terminated. Eduardo is still at the club and the other players were given options, but they opted to remain at Sundowns," Singh said.