Mamelodi Sundowns coach Miguel Cardoso had some advice to the public regarding how Arthur Sales should be judged as a player.
With Lucas Ribeiro Costa expected to seal a deal abroad in the near future, Sales appears to be stepping up as one of the influential figures for Sundowns in attack, but his time in South Africa has not been anywhere near great, with pressure coming from the hefty R62 million price tag that he came in with.
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The Brazilian bagged the man of the match award after Sundowns' 2-0 victory over AmaZulu on Tuesday evening and is building his confidence early in the campaign, but Cardoso feels the slender left-footed attacker is sometimes misunderstood and should not be compared to PSL Footballer of the Season, Ribeiro.
Last season, after a slow start to life in the PSL, Sales finished the campaign with 42 appearances, nine goals and 10 assists.
"Since last year, there is a lot of misunderstanding towards Arthur Sales and people judging him too much. First of all, people should not look at him and imagine that he plays on the right, they will see Lucas Ribeiro. There's no one who will ever be Lucas on the pitch and the coach does not look for a player who will be Lucas Ribeiro. It doesn't exist. Lucas is Lucas and Arthur is Arthur. Each player has his own characteristics," Cardoso told media after the game at Loftus Stadium.
"Arthur is a very good player that arrived in South Africa, was not given the attention and credit that he deserves. I think now people are gradually starting to understand (him), and if you look at his numbers and how he impacted the team last year, Arthur was really important last year (season).
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"He is a little bit underrated, considering what he is capable to do. Today we saw a fantastic performance from him. He will score goals throughout the season, like Peter (Shalulile), Iqraam (Rayners) because he is a player, has a good relationship with the goals, and he can also make assists. He is a clever player. He will become better and better."
A good start to the season could see Sales surpassing last season's numbers in front of goal.