ROYAL AM boss Shauwn “MaMkhize” Mkhize says star striker Victor Letsoalo is going nowhere in the January transfer window which starts on New Year’s Day.
Letsoalo, even before this season got underway, was said to be on the way out when MaMkhize bought the status of Bloemfontein Celtic. There have been rumours that both Soweto giants Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates are keen to sign the red hot striker.
This after the former Baroka FC striker had a dream off season, helping Bafana Bafana win the Cosafa Cup in July.
In the regional tournament, Letsoalo claimed the Golden Shoe award after scoring four goals, as Bafana beat Senegal in the final.
He became the first South African to score three goals in a tournament when he netted a hat-trick against Lesotho in the Cosafa Cup since Benni McCarthy’s scored four goals in 1998 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) finals against Namibia.
His reputation shot up, leading talks that he was set to follow players like Neo Maema and Sifiso Ngobeni, who left Celtic to join Mamelodi Sundowns.
Letsoalo missed Royal AM’s opening Dstv Premiership match against Swallows because his registration card wasn’t issued by the league.
Since then, he has scored nine league goals, including in the 1-0 win over his potential new club Kaizer Chiefs in the club’s last game of the year as the KwaZulu-Natal club went to the recess in seventh place with 27 points after 17 games.
The flamboyant businesswoman has cast doubts in losing her striker, saying if anyone is interested will have to shell out big money to prize him away in the middle of the season
“I don’t see us losing Letsoalo in the middle of the season,” said MaMkhize. “But it has to be an offer that we cannot refuse. For us at this time we want to build a team. You can’t build stability and you are breaking it (the team) up at the same time, it is not what we want to do.”
Letsoalo’s contract will expire at the end of 2023, after he extended it in January last year.
On the possibility of beefing up her squad, MaMkhize said they will not be signing players because they have enough players for coach John Maduka to choose from, following the merging of two teams Am and Celtic.
