SuperSport United CEO Stan Matthews has confirmed that defender Ime Okon might play his last game for the club when the Tshwane giants face AmaZulu in the Betway Premiership at the Moses Mabhida Stadium on Saturday night.

Matthews, who declined to reveal the names of the interested clubs, said Okon has received two offers from major clubs abroad. Okon now has the choice of which team to join.

The 20-year-old defender recently underwent trials with Ukrainian side Dynamo Kyiv, who have the option to sign him immediately.

Previously, SuperSport was rumored to be negotiating a potential deal for the defender to join Danish side FC Midtjylland last year, but nothing materialized.

Sportswire has learned that Kyiv and FC Midtjylland may be the clubs interested in signing Okon, having had the opportunity to assess him more closely.

“The great thing is that we now have two opportunities for Ime, and both are from big clubs,” Matthews said in Durban on Friday.

“I anticipate that within the next few days, Ime will probably be going abroad, and Saturday night will likely be his last game for the club, if everything goes according to plan.”

Okon was promoted to the SuperSport senior team from the Diski Challenge side at the start of the 2023/24 season by coach Gavin Hunt. He was immediately thrust into the starting lineup and has made 42 appearances, scoring one goal.

The center-back’s consistent performances for Matsatsantsa earned him a call-up to the Bafana Bafana squad by coach Hugo Broos last year, although he has yet to earn a cap.

The Johannesburg-born defender is also eligible to play for the Nigerian national team due to his family background, but it remains unclear whether he will choose South Africa over the Super Eagles at the senior level.

“We are trying to build the club from the ground up and establish it as a club that stands for youth development, promoting youth, and demonstrating to the best young players in the country that if they want to go to Europe and achieve their dreams, there is no better club in Africa for them to sign for than SuperSport United,” Matthews added.

“Sometimes we will sell players too early and make mistakes, but we believe in our model. The most important thing for us is to ensure the club’s sustainability, and you only have to look around the PSL at the moment to see that finances are tight. It is not an easy environment for football at the moment.

“There are many regulations and minimum requirements for clubs, which will keep them spending and spending.

“Rising costs and steady income need to be balanced, and the only way to do that is to ensure that we have young players coming through our system who can be the backbone of the team and build up slowly.

“We will reap the rewards in the long term, but in the short term, we also have to worry about performances.

“So, we don’t want to drop out of the top eight, and that’s why you saw us being serious in the transfer market by bringing in established players and not just youngsters.”

To ensure the club’s long-term sustainability, Matthews confirmed they retained a percentage of Shandre Campbell’s future transfer fee after selling him to Belgian side Club Brugge and that will come in handy in future.