Thembinkosi Lorch wanted out at Mamelodi Sundowns and other players who left on loan last week were desperate for game time, coach Miguel Cardoso has revealed.
Lorch will finish the season at Wydad Casablanca while Rushine de Reuck is at Maccabi Petha Tikva in Israel and Lebogang Maboe has moved to SuperSport United.
Lesiba Nku was sold outright to Stellenbsoch as part of the deal that saw Jayden Adams go the other way.
“Lorch, as you might imagine, was not happy and it's important that the players are happy,” explained the Sundowns’ coach who had been keen to cut down the size of the squad at the champions.
“We cannot sustain players that are not in the context, or in the environment, where they feel they can perform. And sometimes it's very important to give them the air they need to breathe so that they can express themselves and also have the game time that they need to play,” Cardoso added.
The 31-year-old Lorch had only been at Sundowns for one year after his surprise move from Orlando Pirates in last January’s transfer window.
This season he started only two of Sundowns’ matches in all competition.
“Lorch is not a young player. In the last years he has not played that much. So it was important to let him go, and I called him. I spoke with all the players after every decision was finalised. I spoke with all of them and completely in peace regarding all options. Everybody's happy and that is the most important thing, because we work with men that are not only football players. They are men. They have families.”
On Maboe, Cardoso said: “Lebo is a wonderful person, who's so well liked in our squad. He also asked, ‘Coach, I want to play so that I can perform for you to see me, and I want to come back to the club’. So we did it. We gave him this opportunity.”