Mamelodi Sundowns coach Pitso Mosimane has revealed why the club let go for forward Khama Billiat who joined rivals Kaizer Chiefs.
Billiat’s move to Kaizer Chiefs came as a surprise since he was rumoured to be heading to Europe but Mosimane wasn’t as shocked explaining that Sundowns made efforts to make the Zimbabwean stay.
“It’s his decision [to join Chiefs]. That’s what he wanted,” Mosimane told KickOff.com “But it’s important for us as Sundowns to look after the dressing room,” he continued before adding that giving in to the demands of the 27 year old Zimbabwean would disrupt the dressing room.
“I think everybody knows that we look after our players well, and people know that we are not one of those clubs that don’t pay.
But, honestly speaking, if we gave Khama what he wanted – that he got from Chiefs, I would lose Themba Zwane, Tiyani Mabunda, Gaston Sirino, even Percy [Tau], who is still our player remember.
I would lose Denis Onyango – African player of the year, Tebogo Langerman … I would lose all these players just for one man – no, it’s not possible.
Mosimane went further to distance himself from activities of other teams but re-echoed how important the Uganda Cranes skipper and number one goalkeeper is important to the Brazilians.
I don’t want to talk about other teams, they know what they’re doing, but Denis Onyango is important to me. It means I must give all these players that kind of money. No, it’s not possible.
Billiat has been pivotal in Sundowns’ past successes but Mosimane thinks its more of collective responsibility at the Chloorkop.
“At Sundowns, we have a collective team that you all know – this one scores seven goals, this one scores eight, that one six. So, there’s no way we could [meet Billiat’s demands].
Nevertheless, the former Caf Champions League winning tactician is happy for Khama and South African football as well for ensuring such happen.
We would lose the dressing room. It’s good for football where Khama went and got the money, because football is a short career, and we’re happy for him.
Personally, I’m happy that these things can happen in South Africa. It’s a new market now.
On the offer the former African champions had offered, ‘Jingles’ said it was a record in the PSL that would have probably taken not less than four years to be broken.
So, I’ll rather lose one player hey. We gave him a good offer. Trust me, it was a big offer. The offer that we gave, he could have been the highest paid player, which would probably have taken four years for that record to be broken.
“Where he is now, I don’t know how many years it’s going to take [to break his record].”
Sundowns have already replaced the Zimbabwean with Venezuelan Alli Mezza as they hope to do well in the Caf Champions League and also defend the PSL.
