With a number of Mamelodi Sundowns key players pulling out of the squad due to transfer-related issues, there are reasons to believe that the same matters could have contributed to defeat in the CAF Champions League final.
In their opening game of the season, the MTN8 quarter-final against Richards Bay, where Sundowns cruised to a 4-0 victory, conspicuous by their absence were leading forward Lucas Ribeiro Costa and Khuliso Mudau.
Although a demand for the services of Costa seems to have intensified after his performances at the FIFA Club World Cup, players such as Mudau already were unsettled towards the end of the 2024/25 season, as he could not agree a new contract with Masandawana.
READ | Sundowns' Transfer Decision Makers Revealed
The future of Peter Shalulile was also in doubt, as the Namibian being benched in crucial games such as the CAF Champions League finals and the Club World Cup showed that there were more to his snub by head coach Miguel Cardoso than meets the eye, as KickOff.com has already revealed that the Namibian has parted ways with the club.
With the likes of Thapelo Morena also missing from the Brazilians' sqaud, the unity within Tshwane giants could have been affected by the time of the CAF Champions League final, after the Portuguese coach admitted something happened, for them to lose to Pyramids.
"It's important to tell everybody that after the CAF Champions League final, there was a pain from the defeat but there (also) was a sense of unsatisfaction that came from the fact that we understood we didn't play the way we should have played," Cardoso said on The Pitchside Podcast.
READ | Cardoso Praises Mabena But 'Plays Too Much For The Public'
"So when we went to the USA (Club World Cup), not only did we have to heal the bruises, the wounds, the heart was bleeding but we needed to go back to the best we could do, because we finished the championship in such (a high standard) that we couldn't accept we had matches we were not ourselves, because of that we lost, no doubt.
"Whatever happened, maybe too much pressure, whatever it was, we were not on our level and we had to change it (going to the Club World Cup). The commitment we tried to create between coaches and players, where we were, something happened to us but from there move to where you wanna be and it was a clear message we need to show the world who we are! We cannot lose this opportunity because then we gonna regret it," Cardoso added.
This website understands that Mudau did not travel with the team for their pre-season training camp in Rustenburg, as he is pushing for a move abroad after his contract lapsed at the end of June.
