While the recent transfer period for Mamelodi Sundowns was dominated by
headlines confirming the departures of a significant contingent of
first-team players, a parallel and far quieter exodus was simultaneously
taking place. The highly publicized exits of figures such as Sipho Mbule,
Thembinkosi Lorch, and Lucas Ribeiro Costa were communicated through the
club’s official channels, marking the end of their respective chapters with
the Tshwane giants. However, beneath the surface of these announced
transactions, a separate group of individuals departed the club without any
official statement or public fanfare.
This secondary wave of departures primarily involved players who had spent
recent seasons away from Chloorkop, having been loaned out to other clubs as
part of Sundowns’ extensive player development and squad management
strategy. For these individuals, their permanent exits generated hardly any
public discussion, their names fading from the Sundowns roster as quietly as
they had been registered.
The common thread for many of these players is that they never managed to
make the coveted breakthrough into the official first-team setup. Despite
being on the club’s books, they did not accumulate any appearances in the
Betway Premiership for the senior side. Their journeys with the club
concluded not with a celebrated farewell, but with the quiet termination of
their contracts or permanent transfers to new destinations. For them, this
recent transfer window did not bring the same kind of spotlight, but instead
offered something equally valuable: a clear and definitive opportunity to
reset and get their professional careers firmly back on track in a new
environment.
