Mamelodi Sundowns coach Manqoba Mngqithi has hailed the progress of the new signing of Iqraam Rayners but is wary of handing him an immediate starting berth. 

Rayners arrived at Chloorkop after Sundowns triggered the buy-out clause in his Stellenbosch contract, following a stellar 2023/24 season, where he scored 17 goals and provided eight assists across all competitions. 

However, the 28-year-old marksman is yet to make his official debut for the Brazilians as he was cup-tied for the MTN8 clashes against Stellies, and Mngqithi sees his lack of minutes with the national team as an advantage ahead of their next match. 

“He has done well, he has only played one friendly match with us and he has scored already, ” Mngqithi said. 

“We are looking forward to seeing more because we brought him here because we believe he’s got goals and that’s what we’ve been lacking. 

“We still have Peter Shalulie who has not scored, whom we know has got goals, we’ve got Lucas Ribeiro Costa whom we know has got goals, we’ve got Thapelo Maseko who’s got goals, quite a lot of players, and Arthur Sales can still give us something. 

“But we are very excited, and Iqraam didn’t get enough game minutes during the FIFA break, maybe that might give us a little bit of an edge to try to use him for this match [against Swallows] as well, ” the Downs mentor added. 

With Rayners being the latest to join the star-studded Sundowns frontline, Mngqithi has made an honest admission, saying he is cautious of throwing the player into the deep end, as it might affect the harmony in the dressing room. 

“It’s a little bit of a tough one [to integrate Rayners] to be honest, because you also don’t want to induce stress and pressure on him, ” he said. 

“It’s very important that we manage that arrival and integration very well because it can also destabilize our change room. Sometimes we as coaches tend to look down on what we had before other players arrived and that makes a very big difference, it can cause a lot of problems in the changing room because I do believe that when you bring a player like Iqraam, you want him to add to what you have. 

“But it’s not that we want to minus certain individuals in the team, and it becomes very bad when at the beginning of the season you have not scored goals and now you want to prioritize making sure that you use particular players at the expense of other players.” 

He continued: “We don’t want to kill anyone – we want everyone to remain with a belief that they still have a chance here because if you just hand it over to Iqraam without him working hard for it, other players might think their time at the club is up, so it’s very important that we manage that integration very well and not create unnecessary commotion in the group.”  

Rayners will be hoping to make his competitive debut when Sundowns lock horns against Mbabane Swallows in the first leg of the CAF Champions League second preliminary second-round tie on Saturday evening at Lucas Moripe Stadium (20:00).

Article by Trevor Magoro