Former Mamelodi Sundowns striker Gift Motupa was given a short-term deal at his new club Baroka FC, but chairman Khurishi Mphahlele has revealed what the plan for the player is, with a big possibility for an extension.
Motupa was recently training with SuperSport United after leaving Sundowns, as Gavin Hunt revealed to the Siya crew that they had no plans of signing him before the end of the season. Baroka stepped in to swoop in on Motupa, securing his services for a third spell.
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He has signed a contract until the end of the campaign for the promotion challenging side and there is a possibility that it will be extended, though Baroka did not want to get ahead of themselves just yet by offering a long-term contract. They want to focus on winning promotion to the Premiership, before engaging on long-term contracts with the former Orlando Pirates and Bidvest Wits player.
Baroka are currently fourth on the Motsepe Foundation Championship standings, just three points behind log-leading side University of Pretoria.
"We did not want to commit ourselves now and we don't know where we will be next season. Even if we don't succeed (in winning promotion), we will talk to him to see if he can stay and help us win promotion. So, this is not only for now, it's for the long-term. We need to negotiate with him when we know where we are. Our minds say that we are going to the DSTV Premiership next season, but anything can happen because this is football," Mphahlele said to the Siya crew.
With Motupa on board, Mphahlele is convinced they now have a complete puzzle to have a full go at winning automatic promotion. The only concern, however, is the player's weight, which they are working on to make sure he can start playing an important role on the pitch for them.
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"We need him. We don't have too many strikers and it was important for us to get another striker. Gift was available and we love him. He won't take time to settle in because he knows the club and we are looking forward to him helping the young boys to score goals. He knows the culture of the team. He has some weight on him, but the coach will work on him. He's naturally not a tiny player, but he has some weight and we need to work on him," Mphahlele said.
"He is going to help us a lot. Opponents will be focused on him and this will be an opportunity for other players to sneak in and score goals because all the attention will be on Gift. He is going to give us an advantage."
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