Mamelodi Sundowns made a surprising decision of terminating Kermit Erasmus' contract, which allowed him to join his former club Orlando Pirates.
Soccer Laduma had reported in edition 1292 that Sundowns planned to have a condition inserted on Erasmus' contract, should they part ways that he cannot join rivals Pirates or Kaizer Chiefs.
Read: Erasmus Leaves Bucs Coach Impressed Despite Game Drought
However, to everyone's surprise, Erasmus was announced as a Pirates player in the morning after the transfer window had shut and was confirmed that the Brazilians mutually terminated his contract.
As reported in the subsequent edition 1293 of the newspaper, the Siya crew has been led to believe that what led to Sundowns not inserting a clause that barred him from joining rivals had to do with his attitude.
A high-ranking official at the club told Soccer Laduma that Erasmus was resigned to running down his contract at the club but his body language was not going to be good for the dressing room, hence they made the decision at the eleventh hour, to set him free.
According to information gathered by the Siya crew, there were no settlement fees that were paid out to Erasmus for termination of contract, as the 32-year old was desperate to get game time elsewhere.
Sundowns co-coach Rulani Mokwena had previously explained that they do not want to keep players who don't have a realistic chance of getting game time.
"We can't have too many players. When you have too many players that then speaks to how much competition there is because every player wants to feel like there is a reach to a position," Mokwena told reporters at a press conference.
"And when there's three or four players ahead of you in the pecking order that could lead to some form of demotivation.
"That then leads to less competition on the training field, less competition on the training field means less intensity, less intensity then affects the results because the performance then is not so good," he said.
Mokwena also pointed out that there was nothing wrong with Erasmus' profile as a player but sometimes in football things don't work out.
"These things happen in football, I saw Gabriel Jesus coming to Manchester City and then going to Arsenal, they happen in football," he went on.
"Barca bought Ibrahimovic, he did the best that he could and then they sent him away. At Man United Lukaku to Chelsea from Inter, then it didn't work out," he added.
Erasmus seemingly could not fit in Sundowns' system because he is more of a direct striker, which meant he was in direct competition with Peter Shalulile.
The Brazilians prefers playing with a couple of number tens in their attack, with the likes of Themba Zwane and Gaston Sirino featuring prominently.
The arrival of Marcelo Allende, of course pushed Erasmus further down the pecking order, in that number ten role.
The diminutive striker could be a perfect fit at Pirates, where they play more direct going forward, with the flexibility of playing with two strikers if needs be.
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