Why Patrick Maswanganyi is leaving Orlando Pirates

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Orlando Pirates midfielder Patrick Maswanganyi is reportedly pushing for a move to Europe as he looks to play in one of soccer’s elite leagues.

The 26-year-old’s Stars of Africa Academy mentor, Farouk Khan, prompted the rumours, saying, “I can tell you now Tito is ready for Europe.”

Before adding that “even himself as a player, he really wants to play there. You know if Pirates can allow him to go then it won’t benefit only Pirates from the sale but also the player himself and the country. He could have stayed longer in Portugal but he was impatient that time,

“You know many players from Brazil, Argentina, and most other African countries use Portugal as a springboard to bigger leagues in Europe and he could have been patient then things could have worked out for him that time. But nothing is lost. He can still go now and make it big. He is ready for Europe.”

Europe bound?

This wouldn’t be the first time the man from Madadeni played in Europe, rising up the ranks with Portuguese academies Oliveirense and Academica de Coimbra before settling in Pretoria with SuperSport United in 2022.

A year later, he was an Orlando Pirates player and has been a household name ever since, winning 2023/24 Player of the Season, two MTN8 Cups and a Nedbank trophy.

With the form the Buccaneers are in, it seems highly unlikely that he will move in January’s transfer window, but nothing is ruled out for after the season, which also applies to Relebohile Mofokeng and Monnapule Saleng.

“It’s Standard Liege that have shown interest [in Saleng]. Actually, last season, they were also interested in Mohau Nkota while Monaco SC were interested in Saleng. So, now it is believed that the Standard Liege scouts are looking at Saleng since Nkota has not been playing much since his promotion”, SoccerLaduma confirmed.

Who do you think Orlando Pirates will sign?

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