Kadodia takes aim at Orlando Pirates, agent for placing Ndlovu’s talent ‘in a parking bay’

Maritzburg United chairman Farouk Kadodia says they are open for Orlando Pirates to loan them Siphesihle Ndlovu “to further mature his career” as he feels the player’s development stalled since joining the Soweto giants.

Kadodia believes the midfielder rushed to move to Pirates when he was signed by Milutin Sredojevic in 2019.

He has struggled to reproduce the same form which established him as a key player at Maritzburg before the Buccaneers came calling.

“The reality is that when Ndlovu was on form when we reached the Nedbank Cup final a few seasons ago, he needed one or two more seasons with us,” Kadodia told the media as per Sowetan Live. 

“I think agents try to rush players for their own benefit to the big clubs. I definitely feel for Ndlovu because I feel that the kind of talent that he has, now it’s parked in a parking bay.  

“We need his club to come on and say if he needs more game time and we are not going to use him, then they must send him to Maritzburg. If Pirates don’t use him and want us to further mature his career, then they are welcomed.”

Ndlovu has managed to feature in just one Premier Soccer League this season, a substitute appearance for 12 minutes against Marumo Gallants, and also came on for the last nine minutes in the MTN8 defeat by Swallows FC.

This is after he made 21 league appearances last season under Josef Zinnbauer and played 13 PSL games the previous term which was his debut in a Pirates shirt.

With Ndlovu struggling to establish himself as a key Pirates player, Kadodia fears Maritzburg’s 21-year-old striker Bongokuhle Hlongwane needs to gain more experience before making a move.

Hlongwane, a newly-capped Bafana Bafana forward, was linked with a move to Pirates and Mamelodi Sundowns during the last transfer window.

“He is a young boy and he needs to develop his career very well,” added Kadodia. 

“Football is very wicked. Big clubs come and speak to him and spoil him, and the player obviously gets that financial temptation. We, as the club, want to see the player happy. It is not all the time that a player would want to stay here. 

“We’ve seen a lot of our players going to big clubs and we also have aspirations and we will do our best to keep players at Maritzburg so they can be groomed correctly. 

“The dangerous part is that many players that go to wrong big clubs don’t have game time and that’s where we have an issue of football agents. They have to guide the players correctly.”