Not even the likely departure of Lucas Ribeiro — South Africa’s reigning footballer of the season — is giving Mamelodi Sundowns coach Miguel Cardoso sleepless nights ahead of his first full season with the Brazilians.
Cardoso announced last season he’d prefer to work with a manageable squad, and suggested that many of the team’s unused players would likely be loaned out or sold to other teams.
Ribeiro is not the only big name starting the 2025-2026 campaign with his future in doubt. The Brazilian has reportedly reached a deal to join Percy Tau’s former club Qatar SC, but nothing official has been announced.
Peter Shalulile, the Namibian-born sharpshooter who was main target man at Downs before Ribeiro’s arrival two seasons ago, has some mouthwatering offers awaiting his signature in north Africa. Shalulile is back training at Chloorkop this week after he, Ribeiro and right-back Khuliso Mudau missed their 4-0 MTN8 quarterfinal win against Richards Bay last week.
Mudau’s situation is different to that of Shalulile and Ribeiro. His main gripe is said to be a wish for an improved contract after his stock rose — he has become a Bafana Bafana regular since joining the club from Black Leopards in 2020.
In the new season, there’s a new history to be written, and we have to start from the first chapter. If the preamble was great last week [against Bay], then we need to open the first chapter with the seriousness that we need to approach it with
— Miguel Cardoso, Mamelodi Sundowns coach
While Cardoso has plenty of quality options upfront in case Shalulile and Ribeiro leave, he’s certainly under pressure to find a solution on the Mudau situation, as he was forced in Bay’s win to play newly signed leftback Fawaaz Basadien on the right when Zuko Mdunyelwa ran out of steam. “For a moment, I’m trying to find a solution, and let’s hope we don’t have any problems with Zuko,” said Cardoso.
“We always need to work on solutions and not on problems. Not having Mudau at the moment, and having [Thapelo] Morena with a small injury, and having only Zuko as a back-up ... that’s quite okay. You must remember that last year Zuko played five matches in a row and [is] always growing.”
The coach admitted he could not wait for the window to shut on September 22 so that he has certainty about who’s in and who’s out of the team.
For now, Cardoso wants his team to maintain the way they started against Bay, and is eager to ensure they don’t lose the momentum that saw them winning the Betway Premiership in the last eight seasons.
“In the new season, there’s a new history to be written, and we have to start from the first chapter. If the preamble was great last week [against Bay], then we need to open the first chapter with the seriousness that we need to approach it with.”
After their loss to Pyramids FC in the final of the Caf Champions League in June, Sundowns never really had a break as they went on to feature at the Fifa Club World Cup in the US, where they were knocked out in the first round despite playing some enterprising football.
Masandawana’s participation in the Club World Cup meant they had to cut short their pre-season, but Cardoso has no complaints as he feels the global showpiece helped sharpen his team for the 2025-26 campaign.
“I think the pre-season for us were the matches we had in the US because after not winning the final of the Champions League, we really needed to have some important conversations with the group to reorganise our minds and reconnect our hearts. The two weeks [of pre-season] that we had just now, it was about reconnecting the dots so that we can move forward.”
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