City sign players with experience

Having already snatched Fortune Makaringe and in the process of signing Kamohelo Mokotjo ahead of the new season, Cape Town City mentor Eric Tinkler hasn't hidden that their aim from now on is to demonstrate that they are a top-four side.

“Like I said last season, we see ourselves as a top-four club, that's our objective,” Tinkler said on the sidelines of a CAF A Licence graduation ceremony, where he was also conferred with this badge, at Safa House in Nasrec last Friday.

City didn't waste time, capturing Makaringe as a free agent a few days after leaving Orlando Pirates last week. Mokotjo, who is now in the books of Sekhukhune, is believed to be very close to joining City in a swap deal that'd see fellow central midfielder Relebogile Mokhuoane moving to the opposite direction ahead of the 2024/25 term.

City finished fifth in the just-concluded season, having ended in second and in fourth slots in the two previous seasons respectively. Tinkler has suggested that their regression in the should be attributed to shortage of seasoned campaigners in the squad, saying they took a little bit of a gamble by giving more youngsters a chance, hence they are going for experience now.

“In the season that has just ended, we took a little bit too much risk with the amount of youngsters that we were bleeding into the team. Over the past three seasons, we've lost some experienced players, who moved on to other clubs and really haven't gone into the market looking to bring in someone of experience and maturity,'' Tinkler said.

“Obviously, this is a discussion that we had quite a while back, looking to ensure that this coming season we have a lot more depth within our squad,'' Tinkler noted.

Midfielder Luyo Silatsha, 20, right-winger Shakeel April, 17, and forward Jody Ah Shene, 19, are some of the youngsters that were promoted from the side's DStv Diski Challenge team and went on to make senior debuts in the recent season.