“He Consecutively Broke Club Rules”: Cardoso

Mamelodi Sundowns attacker Monnapule Saleng’s future at the club could be hanging by a thread after coach Miguel Cardoso confirmed that the winger is currently not training with the team.

Cardoso made the revelation after Sundowns’ 3-2 victory over Polokwane City in the MTN8 quarter-final at Lucas Moripe Stadium on Saturday.

Saleng has been absent from the team, having not featured in a matchday squad and also missing Sundowns’ pre-season activities in Austria.

Cardoso has now confirmed that the winger is not training with the team after allegedly breaching the club’s rules and values, as well as those of the dressing room.

“Regarding Saleng, the situation is unfortunately very different,” said Cardoso.

“Saleng consecutively broke the rules and values of the locker room and of the club, and for some time now—not just this moment—he is not training with the team. Just for you to understand, Saleng was on the list for the second match of the Champions League, and he didn’t appear.”

Saleng’s disciplinary issues have also reportedly followed him from his previous club, Orlando Pirates, who loaned him to Orbit College at the start of last season before he moved to Sundowns in January last season.

While at Pirates, Saleng was reportedly involved in a number of personal issues, although the club did not confirm the details publicly.

Sportswire was informed at the time that Saleng had been involved in several serious issues, which contributed to his loan move to Orbit College at the start of last season.

Pirates were reportedly concerned about his behaviour, with sources telling this website at the time that the situation had become untenable and that there was little prospect of him continuing at the club during the 2024/25 season.

After his loan move to Orbit College, Sundowns signed Saleng in the hope that he would rediscover the form he showed during the 2022/23 season, when he was named the PSL Players’ Player of the Year.

However, he has yet to reach those same heights since then.

“Saleng was on the list to go to camp; he didn’t appear, or he said he would not go,” added Cardoso, who also did not include the winger in the squad when Sundowns won the CAF Champions League last season.

“So, we can’t maintain stability with a player that we gave so much support to, even after systematic mistakes, but who is not willing to give the best that a team at his level requires.”