JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA – MAY 28: Thalente Mbatha of Orlando Pirates during the Orlando Pirates media open day at Orlando Stadium on May 28, 2024 in Johannesburg, South Africa. (Photo by Sydney Seshibedi/Gallo Images)
Nedbank Cup final hero Thalente Mbatha has done his part in performing with distinction and has now thrown the ball in the court of Orlando Pirates, who have the option to make his move permanent.
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Loan moves as successful as that of Mbatha to Pirates is one that is hardly seen.
Not much was expected from the youngster when he joined the Buccaneers from SuperSport United in January but the 23-year-old has not only lived up to expectations – but he has by far exceeded them.
Mbatha topped off his spectacular season with a Man of the Match performance in Pirates’ 2-1 Nedbank Cup final win over Mamelodi Sundowns, adding to the 15 appearances he made in all competitions in this campaign.
Pirates do have the option to make the loan move a permanent one by purchasing him outright from Matsatsantsa, although the club are yet to indicate if they are to do so or not, for Mbatha, however, he is not losing sleep over his future.
“I’m not sure. My agent is the one who’s going to sit down with the drawing board with the team and they’ll be able to decide as Pirates have the option to buy me or not. I might say it’s something, I want to stay, but at the end of the day, it’s not up to me,” he told journalists after the match.
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Asked whether he felt like the Nedbank cup final was the final audition in which he had to get the nod of approval from the Pirates hierarchy, Mbatha said he did all of his talking on the pitch, leaving the final decision with the Buccaneers.
“I was just playing football. I wasn’t minding that my future is not certain. So, what I could say is that playing my football and not worrying about my job, because my job is to play football and my agent’s job is to speak to the team, so I feel like that didn’t distract me too much as I was playing the game,” he said.
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