Pretoria – Mamelodi Sundowns head coach Miguel Cardoso says ongoing transfer speculations surrounding key players will not affect the team’s ambitions this season, according to a report by iDiski Times.
Players such as Khuliso Mudau, Lucas Ribeiro Costa, Thapelo Maseko, Kutlwano Letlhaku, and Peter Shalulile have all been linked to possible moves during the current transfer window. Ribeiro Costa has taken his case to the FIFA Tribunal, seeking to terminate his contract with “just cause” to force a transfer to Qatar.
Despite the uncertainty, Cardoso said the team remains focused and united. Sundowns started the 2025/26 season unbeaten, with two wins and two draws, including a 1-1 result in the first leg of the MTN8 semi-final against Orlando Pirates.
“Sundowns is preserving everything that might be happening and keeping it indoors. The locker room is impossible to be broken by this kind of thing. The locker room is too strong, the values inside the club are too strong,” Cardoso said ahead of the second-leg match this weekend.
He added that the team’s philosophy encourages resilience: “If someone falls, two should rise. It’s how we develop and shape character. That’s how the story of Mamelodi Sundowns has been written, by strong characters, by strong values, by strong people. And whatever happens, it’s always solved inside the doors, in the best way possible and at the right moment, spoken publicly.”
Sundowns are set to host Orlando Pirates at Lucas Moripe Stadium on Saturday at 15:00.
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