Mamelodi Sundowns coach Miguel Cardoso says he is open to the prospect of Thapelo Maseko remaining at the club and reintegrating into the first team squad.<\/p>\n
Maseko caught the eye during Bafana Bafana\u2019s 2026 World Cup campaign, raising expectations that he would either reclaim a starting berth with the Brazilians, or secure a high-profile move abroad.<\/p>\n
However, neither situation has materialised. The 22-year-old has been missing during Sundowns\u2019 pre-season, neither joining their tour of Austria, nor returning to Cypriot side AEL Limassol, where he spent the latter half of last season on loan.<\/p>\n
Following Sundowns’ 3-2 victory over Polokwane City in the MTN8 quarterfinals this past weekend, Cardoso addressed the club’s stance and his personal rapport with the attacker.<\/p>\n
\u201cBetween coach Miguel Cardoso and Thapelo Maseko, there are no issues. Yesterday, I had a beautiful talk with Maseko,\u201d Cardoso explained.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was asked inside the club when we discussed his situation; we obviously had to understand if he wanted to stay with us or not.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t want to work with players who don\u2019t want to be part of our group. I asked him, and I said: \u2018Look, my heart is open for you to be here; the team is open for you if you want to join us and stay open-hearted with us.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Cardoso conceded that the matter is now out of his hands: \u201cObviously, when the player says, \u2018I want to go to other places,\u2019 then it becomes a club issue, not a coach\u2019s question.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sundowns will open their Betway Premiership campaign on Tuesday evening with a match away to TS Galaxy in Nelspruit.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Mamelodi Sundowns coach Miguel Cardoso says he is open to the prospect of Thapelo Maseko remaining at the club.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":1918,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_vp_format_video_url":"","_vp_image_focal_point":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[55,58,103,147,135],"class_list":["post-1917","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local-news","tag-betway-premiership","tag-mamelodi-sundowns","tag-miguel-cardoso","tag-thapelo-maseko","tag-transfer-news"],"yoast_head":"\n