Cape Town City, Eric Tinkler set sights on major honours in 2024/25

The club has already secured the services of experienced internationals such as former Sekhukhune United and Bafana Bafana midfielder Kamohelo Mokotjo, Fortune Makaringe, Haashim Domingo, and ex-Petro de Luanda star Carlinhos.

After finishing fifth on the DStv Premiership log this past season, Tinkler has declared the time for experimenting with young players is over.

"I think this season that has just ended, we took a little bit too much risk with the amount of youngsters we were bleeding into the team," said the former Bafana Bafana midfielder.

"And over the past three seasons, we've lost some experienced players who moved on to other clubs and opportunities, but we really haven't gone into the market looking to bring someone of experience and maturity.

"And obviously this is a discussion that we had quite a while back, looking to ensure that this coming season [2024/25] we have a lot more depth within our squad."

One of the players City have released to make room for the new arrivals is former Leicester City attacker Khanya Leshabela, who arrived as recently as February.

Tinkler shed light on why they opted not to retain the 24-year-old former South Africa junior international's services and says they don't regret signing him.

"We lost Ambina and Mokeke – both those players were key players for us through the midfield, and then KG picked up an injury, so we went through quite a rough period and we needed to try and find a solution as quick as possible," he explained.

"We heard about Khanya's availability, so it was a short-term fix – we signed him only until the end of the season, and we said that from there we would decide on whether we would renew for the following season. He knew what type of deal it was.

"Was it a mistake? No, because ultimately he did contribute when he came on. But, like I said, we were already in the stage of signing players for the new season."

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