Mamelodi Sundowns head coach Rulani Mokwena's future with the club is seemingly not cast in stone, with interest in his services giving him leverage with the Tshwane giants' hierarchy.
Just over a week ago, Soccer Laduma reported that the Sundowns management were mulling over the future of Mokwena, as they are said to not be completely satisfied with his otherwise brilliant season, where he broke the PSL record tally of points, reached the MTN8 final, won the inaugural African Football League and is in the Nedbank Cup final.
Among other issues of concern for the powers that be at The Brazilians, according to the Siya crew, is the team's style of play, which has left a faction of the club's board not completely happy.
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Of note is that when Sundowns restructured their technical team in October 2022, they were top of the log, citing the style of play and unconvincing victories as the main reason for the move.
"These changes were necessitated by the poor performances and unconvincing victories that the club has experienced for quite some time," the club said in their statement, as they demoted previous co-coach Manqoba Mngqithi and elevated Mokwena as head coach.
"Mamelodi Sundowns has a clear objective of becoming one of the most successful football clubs in Africa and its recent average and lacklustre performances are contrary to this objective."
Sundowns chairman Tlhopie Motsepe sounded subdued in the club's celebrations after their trophy presentation on Saturday and was cryptic, as he addressed Mokwena's future, despite the coach having signed a four-year contract extension last year.
"I'm really trying not to smile and be professional because I'm very fond of the coach and as a person, as a young leader in this country, he really has put immense pressure on himself to deliver for this football club," Motsepe told SABC Sport.
"And the proof is in the points, how we have been playing, where he goes now in terms of next season, in terms of what he can do for this football club, it really is about his ambition for the team.
"I do also want to say he's incredibly tough on himself and our supporters have such high expectations of the club that we place on ourselves. We need patience, we need to make sure that we strive for more…" he continued.
The 37-year-old's future has seemingly also affected the contract negotiations of some players at Sundowns, after he revealed that goalkeeper Ronwen Williams was not willing to sign a new contract until he was guaranteed by the coach that will still be in charge next season.
"Before Ronwen renews his contract, the club made contact with his agent and everything was done, sorted. Ronwen says, 'I need to see you', I said okay," Mokwena revealed on Metro FM Sports on Monday.
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"He said, 'I'm not signing this contract extension if you're not going to promise me that you'll be here next season'."
In the same interview, Mokwena expressed his loyalty to the club, amid reported interest from overseas and North African clubs, after he revealed that "I've never seen so many zeros (on a contract offer) in my life at the end of last season and I was of course tempted by some of the clubs".
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