Lamontville Golden Arrows co-coach Vusi Vilakazi says he’d like his star attacker Pule Mmodi to stay with the club next season amid renewed rumours about his departure.
Arrows signed Mmodi from Uthongathi FC ahead of the 2020/21 season and the players’ contract will expire at the end of June.
“Pule, I like Pule and I would like Pule to stay at the club at any time because he is working very hard for us,” said Vilakazi.
“He has been showing that. Even now there are speculations but he is still working hard. He’s a player, whenever you are thinking about people who want to fight for you, he always raises his hand to say I’m available.
“So we will see what happens. If we have Pule, we will have Pule next season and I will be happy about that.”
Kaizer Chiefs were said to be interested in the player ahead of the 2022/23 campaign, but both parties did not come to an agreement over the fee that Arrows were looking for.
For Chiefs, according to sources, the requested fee was too high, considering Mmodi is no longer a youngster, as he is 30 years old, not in line with their vision of rebuilding the squad.
That led to Mmodi left mentally unsettled in the beginning of the campaign, which was confirmed by coach Vilakazi, who said the speculation had initially disturbed his star not to perform to the level he wanted.
But as soon as Mmodi knew that he was not going anywhere, he took off, scoring in four successive games for Arrows between late August and September.
In the second half, having scored four goals in the first round, Mmodi netted just two – against Marumo Gallants and against Swallows, respectively, to finish with six goals in 31 appearances in all competitions.
He was later also linked with AmaZulu and Orlando Pirates, and it remains to be seen which direction will be taken by the player, but chances are that Mmodi might not be with Arrows next season.
