Former Royal AM midfielder Lantshene Phalane has joined Motsepe Foundation Championship side Baroka FC on a one-year deal.
Phalane has been without a club since the end of last season when he parted ways with now-defunct Moroka Swallows.
The 34-year-old is no stranger to Baroka as he began his professional career at the club in 2020.
He was part of the Bakgaga side that beat Kaizer Chiefs in the Nedbank Cup quarter-finals at Peter Mokaba Stadium, coached by Sello Chokoe. This was before he moved to clubs such as Platinum Stars, Bloemfontein Celtic and Royal AM.
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Phalane joins other experienced players, such as Siphelele Mthembu and Given Mashikinya, who were recently signed by the club. The club announced his arrival in an official statement on Thursday.
“He has been training with the team for the past two weeks. We have been assessing him, and we felt we could not take the risk of not signing him,” club executive manager Richard Mashabane told FARPost.
“We wanted to beef up the team with experience, including the likes of Mashikinya, Makume, and Gebhardt. As you know, this team wants to get promoted. We are not aiming for the playoffs because we have experienced them before. What we want is to get automatic promotion. Our chairman [Khurishi Mphahlele] has given the players the mandate to take the team back to the Betway Premiership.”
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Baroka are away to Pretoria Callies in their league encounter on Saturday, 26 October. Mashabane says although it remains the decision of the coach, Phalane has been looking good at training.
“We hope he can be in the team. But that is a decision that needs to be made by the team. He is really looking sharp and fit at training. We also encourage our supporters to come in numbers on Saturday as we count on their support.”
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