DESPITE being off-loaded by Bidvest Wits, veteran defender Vuyo Mere still wants to play.
The player believes he can carry on for two more seasons in the Premier Soccer League (PSL).
Mere (35) is a free agent after he was surprisingly released by The Students at the end of last season, despite featuring in 25 games in all competitions.
He joined the Braamfontein-based club after he departed the now defunct Platinum Stars at the end of the 2017/18 season.
Mere is one of the longest-serving players in the PSL.
He’s closing in on 500 starts in the league, having made his debut in the 2001/02 season when he was a dribbling wizard winger at Hellenic.
“I still want to play football and am looking for a club.
“Hopefully, something will come up soon,” said Mere.
“I’m not giving myself a time frame of when I hope to get a club.
“The drive to play football is still burning inside me. Football puts bread on the table. If this was just about the game, I would have long retired.”
With the transfer window period in full swing, Mere was heavily linked with a move to his home town club Bloemfontein Celtic.
But Siwelele management changed its minds.
“At Celtic, I spoke to chairman, Max Tshabala, and he told me they don’t need me. So, the move won’t materialise,” revealed Mere.
Whatever happens, Mere is one of the most reliable players in the league.
In 18 years of serving the game, he’s played for Benoni Premier United, Mamelodi Sundowns and Moroka Swallows. At Sundowns, he won the league twice and the SAA Supa8, before he joined The Dube Birds in 2010.
He spent one season with the Soweto giants as he was on the move to Dikwena, where he spent seven seasons.
At the then Phokeng-based club, Mere was part of the club that made history by winning the double – the MTN8 and Telkom Knockout trophies in the 2013/14 season under Allan Freese.
In those finals they defeated fellow Soweto giants Orlando Pirates.
He added: “I’ve achieved many things through football and don’t see myself retiring anytime soon. If it happens it’ll be will be God’s timing.
“Maybe, before the season starts I’ll get the club.”