Moorosi Tsiane
MATLAMA has signed Lioli utility player Lekhanya Lekhanya on a three-year deal in a bid to replace prolific strike Motebang Sera who joined Bloemfontein Celtic last month.
Sera, who was the Econet Premier League 2018/19 season top goal scorer with 18 goals and also bagged the Player of the Season gong, signed a two-year contract last month.
He is among the five players who left the country’s most successful side along with veteran midfielder Bushy Moletsane, who returned to Lioli; Lebajoa Mosehlenyane (winger) and Michael Mireku (defender) who both joined Linare and Patrick Nyago who recently moved to Bantu.
Matlama spokesperson Tankiso Moletsane confirmed to this publication that they have signed Lekhanya and said there would be more.
“So far, he is our only big signing after parting ways with five players during this transfer window,” Moletsane said.
He said they are aware of the busy schedule their side is faced with this season with also CAF champions League on the table.
“We have lost important players and we are faced with a very busy schedule this season starting with this weekend’s CAF Champions League tie although Lekhanya will not be able to play as he is not registered.
“He has been training with the team for two weeks now and the technical team was impressed with him,” he said.
Moletsane said they still needed at least four more players.
“We know his quality hence we didn’t even hesitate to give him such a long contract. He can play both as a winger and a striker so we have killed two birds with one stone here. He can either replace Lebajoa or Sera. However, we still need to make more big signings and for now, we have a defender from Bloemfontein Celtic whom we are assessing him.”
Commenting on Mireku and Nyago’s moves, Moletsane said their negotiations failed to yield the desired results.
“We tried to negotiate with them but unfortunately, they negotiations were unsuccessful. They wanted more money but we did not have it. So, we need to prepare for new season and forget about the players who have left the team,” Moletsane said