The future of Mamelodi Sundowns star Gaston Sirino remains uncertain with growing links to a mega-money departure from Masandawana.
Al Ahly have been interested in the Uruguayan star for awhile now, however the Egyptian champions now hold an ace up their sleeve in the form of newly appointed manager Pitso Mosimane.
It was Mosimane who brought Gaston Sirino from Uruguay to South Africa and the duo tasted great success together at Mamelodi Sundowns leaving Sirino with an added incentive to join the mighty Al Ahly.
Sirino agrees terms with Al Ahly
Gaston Sirino has agreed a deal in principle to join Al Ahly according to reports and the figures being thrown around suggest that Mamelodi Sundowns are looking for over R60 million for their star player.
“There is an agreement for Sirino to join Al Ahly and my understanding is that he will arrive in the next transfer window in time for the second round of the Champions League.” a source told Kick-Off.
“In terms of the foreigners, I don’t think [Aliou] Badji gets along with Mosimane that much and he could leave to open a [foreign] quota spot.
“The only thing preventing the deal from happening now in this current window is Sundowns are holding out for more money.”
Gaston will be back for Sundowns after the international period – Mngqithi
Gaston Sirino is yet to feature for Mamelodi Sundowns since their opening day MTN8 defeat against Bloemfontein Celtic and head coach Manqoba Mngqithi dismissed ideas that the star is being sidelined due to the ongoing transfer speculation.
“He should be ready to play the next match after the Fifa break‚” Mngqihti told reporters following his side’s 2-0 victory over Cape Town City.
“We were just being cautious because he had a grade two hamstring injury. It has taken two and half weeks now.
“We are hopeful that by the time we come back from the Fifa break he will be back with the team because he has already started light training.”
While it remains to be seen whether Mamelodi Sundowns will be able to keep their star player, if the deal does take place then we will likely be looking at the largest inter-african transfer fee to date.
