SuperSport United’s head coach, Gavin Hunt, has expressed his concerns about the significant loss of players the club has experienced ahead of the upcoming season.
With several key players departing, the team faces the challenge of reinventing themselves to remain competitive in all competitions.
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One notable transfer was the departure of Thapelo Maseko, the current DStv Premiership Young Player of the Season, who joined champions Mamelodi Sundowns.
Maseko’s exceptional performance last season, with four goals and two assists, played a crucial role in helping SuperSport finish third in the league and secure qualification for the Caf Confederation Cup.
Additionally, Thatayaone Ditlokwe moved to Kaizer Chiefs, while Patrick Maswanganyi joined Orlando Pirates. Hunt acknowledged the need to reorganize the squad after losing several key players who were consistently on the field last season.
He emphasized that any team would struggle when faced with such significant departures, even the top-performing teams like Sundowns, Chiefs, and Cape Town City.
“We’ve lost three or four key players that played most of the games last season. Now when you take that out of any team, they’re going to struggle,” Hunt explained during an interview with SurgeZirc SA.
“So that’s what’s happened to us, and it’s something we’ve got to try and live with. Perhaps try to reinforce where we can or maybe even change the way we play in the short term.”
In recent years, the relationship between SuperSport and Sundowns in the transfer market has grown significantly, with seven players making the move across town in the last five years.
This has contributed to Sundowns’ impressive success, securing five league titles in a row, along with two Nedbank Cups, one MTN8, and Telkom Knockout medals.
Hunt acknowledged the unusual “relationship” between the two clubs, where SuperSport prioritizes the livelihood and careers of some of their brightest talents.
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“It doesn’t happen anywhere else in the world besides South Africa because they’ve got the wealth so they can dominate,” Hunt explained.
“It’s very unique, nowhere in the world would Barcelona sell to Real Madrid or Manchester United to Manchester City, but it happens in South Africa because they (Sundowns) can.”
