Mamelodi Sundowns set to offload Lyle Lakay

The player is one of several returning from a loan spell having been sent to Cape Town City a year ago despite being the reigning Defender of the Season at the time – a decision Lakay admitted came as a shock. 

Lakay had in fact made six appearances for the Brazilians in their opening eight matches of the 2022/23 campaign before his transfer to City was confirmed on deadline day. 

Sundowns signed the 31-year-old from the same club five seasons ago under then coach Pitso Mosimane and he was part of the squad responsible for the remarkable feat of winning four successive titles in that period. 

It’s the reason why his loan move back to his former club came as a surprise to both the player as well as the football fraternity. 

City coach Eric Tinkler did confirm in May that even though there was a desire to hold on to Lakay, his Downs wages were simply too high to compete with and as a result, he expected the defender to go back to Chloorkop. 

The public broadcaster can now confirm that Lakay is set to leave Sundowns with his contract soon to expire and not to be renewed. 

Downs do have a policy to freeze contracts when a player goes on loan, but it’s not clear if the club will take the same stance with Lakay and try to sell or allow him to immediately become a free agent. 

What is clear, from information gathered by SABC Sport, the player is not part of the technical team’s plan going forward.