Maseko in limbo as Sundowns allegedly block transfer moves

Despite his heroic performance for Bafana Bafana at the Fifa World Cup two months ago, Thapelo Maseko is not a happy player at Mamelodi Sundowns.

Sources close to Maseko revealed that he is becoming disheartened as Sundowns have allegedly blocked attractive transfer offers from a Danish club and two Egyptian teams, and that he is now training alone.

Reliable sources told Sowetan that Sundowns have declined offers for Maseko from Denmark’s FC Copenhagen, Egyptian giants Al Ahly and Rulani Mokwena’s Pyramids despite him allegedly not being in coach Miguel Cardoso’s plans.

A year ago, Maseko shared an emotional message about his loss of love for football after he struggled for game time at Sundowns before he was loaned out to AEL Limassol in Cyprus, where he revived his career, which saw him return to the Bafana squad for the World Cup.

But he was left out of the preseason team that went to Austria and is training alone.

There are offers from abroad, but they are not responding to them.” — Anonymous source

“They don’t want to release him around the PSL. There are offers from abroad, but they are not responding to them,” a well-informed source told Sowetan.

“They are destroying this boy,” the source said. “There is an offer they received today [Wednesday] from Denmark; they have been sending offers for two weeks now, [but Sundowns] just look at it.

“The boy is training alone; they have sidelined him, and his family has to interfere in this situation, but Sundowns are still not abiding.

“He was supposed to fly today to Denmark to be able to register for the Champions League, but they have been playing hide and seek, and when asked if they have a plan for him, they don’t have it. They left him here during preseason.

“He is no longer in their [WhatsApp] group. Al Ahly made a bid, and they rejected it, while Pyramids also made a bid which was rejected too.”

The source revealed that Maseko’s family is worried that he could succumb to depression if Sundowns continues to frustrate him.

Sundowns’ general manager Yogesh Singh could not be reached for a comment and failed to respond to Sowetan’s text messages.

Maseko joined Sundowns in 2023 and quickly established himself as a star player, winning the inaugural African Football League Player of the Tournament award before earning a Bafana medal in the winning African Cup of Nations 2024 squad and scoring a winning goal for the national team against South Korea at this year’s World Cup.

Sowetan