AmaZulu coach Benni McCarthy says they signed Abbubaker Mobara as a direct replacement for Siyethemba Sithebe who was strongly linked with a move to Kaizer Chiefs in January.
Mobara arrived at Usuthu from Cape Town City as the KwaZulu-Natal club battled to retain Sithebe.
The dreadlocked midfielder is now set to join Chiefs at the end of the season after signing a pre-contract with the Soweto giants.
Sithebe’s possible departure will see versatile Mobara, who is at home as a midfielder, centre-back, or right-back, step into his shoes.
“Well … we’re losing Sithebe to Chiefs. He’s a midfielder and so it opens up a nice space for Mobara,” said McCarthy as per Sowetan Live.
“I know he’s [Mobara] a right-back, he’s good at right-back. But in that position we have [Thembela] Sikhakhane, [Mbongeni] ‘Shoes’ Gumede and Kgotso Moleko and so competition is good there.
“But in midfield, I think you want to dominate, you want to dictate matches and Mobara has that intelligence. He’s got the skills, work ethic and he’s got the intelligence to play in that role. So one door closes with Sithebe and with Mobara one opens.”
Attempts to renew Sithebe’s contracts drew blanks for AmaZulu as “the player wanted a certain amount, he wanted a specific contract for himself with terms and conditions he wanted.”
After securing Mobara’s signature, Usuthu also signed South Sudan forward Abraham Majok in January.
They are preparing for their maiden Caf Champions League group stage campaign.
“I would have wanted maybe an extra two or three more players, just for the depth,” McCarthy added.
“You go to play in the Caf Champions League and then you come back two days later and you play in the league. Look what travelling on the continent did to us when we played Sekhukhune United [they lost 2-0 in October] after coming back from the DRC [to play TP Mazembe].
“It was tough, but if you have two good players in each position, you can juggle the team around.”
AmaZulu travel to Morocco to face Raja Casablanca in their Champions League Group B opener on Saturday.
Story Credit: Goal.com
