Orlando Pirates desperately want to sign Oswin Appollis and they’ll sacrifice a fan favourite to do so.
Pirates ready to sacrifice Ndlondlo to secure Appollis
Orlando Pirates must cough up money and a player to secure the services of Polokwane and Bafana winger Oswin Appollis. Polokwane has insisted fringe playmaker Ndabayithethwa Ndlondlo be included in any potential deal for their talisman. The 29-year-old former Marumo Gallants man has only made two appearances across all competitions this term.
“You remember about the loose ends still to be tied and discussed? One of those is that Polokwane City wants to have a player and money from Pirates,” an insider told Soccer Laduma.
“The initial player they wanted was Katlego Otladisa and since that didn’t work out then they are believed to have asked for Phillip Ndlondlo as the player who could be involved in this deal. So, as we speak now that’s what both teams are looking at and things could be done sooner than expected.”
Orlando Pirates vs Kaizer Chiefs H2H
Pirates have held the upper hand in recent meetings between these great Soweto rivals. The Buccaneers have won the last three meetings across all competitions, including each of the last two in the league. That stopped a curious and somewhat surprising run of five consecutive wins for Chiefs in Soweto Derby league clashes with the Sea Robbers. Most memorably, Yusuf Maart scored the only goal, and what a goal it was, in a 1-0 win for the Glamour Boys in October 2022. Chiefs won a quintet of Betway Pem clashes on the bounce against Pirates between March 2021 and February 2023. They’d love to build up a run like that again.
The teams battle again on 01 February at Orlando Stadium.
Does Maela’s future hang in the balance?
Meanwhile, Pirates have a new exciting left-back prospect which makes skipper Innocent Maela’s long-term future pretty unclear.
“Soon after Thursday’s first training session for 2025, the Buccaneers‘ social media account shared images of the players on the grass at the Rand Stadium training base. One of the faces was former Orbit College left-back Yanga Madiba, aged 23. With Deon Hotto turning 35 this year, Orlando Pirates are clearly developing Mabida as a possible successor at number three. Meanwhile, Paseko Mako has been back from injury to compete with Hotto, while Innocent Maela continues to struggle for game time.”
Is Appollis worth all the fuss?
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