Monnapule Saleng has not played for Orlando Pirates in over a month and reports of him partying ways with the club have intensified.
The 26-year-old appears to have fallen out of favour with Buccaneershead coach Jose Riveiro. Having contributed to 26 goals in 30 appearances in the 2022/23 season, Saleng immediately attracted attention overseas. Given that it was only his first season, it made sense why the Soweto giants were not keen to offload him.
Last season, the winger struggled to replicate his form but the club still kept him despite interest elsewhere. Renowned agent Rui Frois revealed that United Arab Emirates outfit Al Nasr SCmade attempts to sign Saleng from Orlando Pirates.
“I had a meeting about Saleng with a top-ranking Pirates official in Hyde Park.” he said as per Kick-Off.
“Those talks happened after the season in which he scored 15 goals. However, at that meeting, I was told he was not for sale because he was the main player in the team at the time. The Gulf region was serious about Saleng and wanted to give him a good contract.”
Saleng has not featured for Orlando Pirates since December
Frois said the UAE club have since moved on from Saleng.
My close contact, who is an agent in the UAE, tasked me with doing this deal here in South Africa and since he wasn’t a player in our stable, we did what we had to do in contacting the club after also contacting some people that we were told worked with him. Unfortunately, we couldn’t proceed, and it is sad that the boy is no longer enjoying as much game-time now,” he added.
Saleng has featured just once in the past nine matches for Orlando Pirates. In 2023, it was reported that the Buccaneers had put a R75 million price tag on the winger’s head.
Should Saleng leave or stay?
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