By Michael Madyira
Former Orlando Pirates midfielder Michael Morton is convinced Mamelodi Sundowns’ Premier Soccer League dominance will not be broken anytime soon.
The Brazilians won a record-extending seventh consecutive PSL title in the just-ended season as their rivals struggled to wrestle the league crown away from Chloorkop.
However, Sundowns got a rude test from Orlando Pirates, who beat them twice in both the MTN8 and Nedbank Cup finals.
The Buccaneers’ Cup triumphs were a hint that Masandawana can be challenged, but Morton explains why he thinks Sundowns’ dominance is set to continue.
“Obviously Pirates made a big jump, especially by finishing last season strongly,” Morton told Scrolla.Africa.
“But I still see Sundowns being an absolute powerhouse. The elephant in the room is the billions of Rands they are going to get for the Club World Cup.”
“It will be interesting to see if they will bring more players in this transfer window because they have this massive pile of cash they can spend on players.”
After struggling to win the Caf Champions League title and missing out on three domestic Cup competitions, Masandawana are likely to be aggressive in the player transfer market.
That presents a challenge for traditional rivals Pirates and Kaizer Chiefs to also go big in transfers.
“So, it will be interesting to see if Pirates will close the gap. I hope so for the competitiveness of the league,” Morton added.
“It’s obviously good for South African football to have a very strong Pirates team and then hopefully in the future with the new coach, a very strong Chiefs team.
“If you get all those three teams firing from all cylinders, it brings more eyeballs to the league.”
While convinced Sundowns’ supremacy is far from being over, Morton sees some improvement in Pirates.
“I still think the Sundowns will have the dominance for a while to come especially with their financial backing,” he said.
“But it looks like Pirates are slowly coming in and hopefully they will bridge that gap.”
Pirates return to Spain for pre-season where they will face Wayne Rooney’s Plymouth Argyle, Sevilla and Qatari side Al Sadd.
Pictured above: Mamelodi Sundowns midfielder Teboho Mokoena closes in on Orlando Pirates forward Zakhele Lepasa taking a shot
Image source: Orlando Pirates
