Mamelodi Sundowns have officially secured the services of Bafana Bafana defender Rivaldo Coetzee from Ajax Cape Town for an undisclosed fee.
Coetzee was poised to join Scottish giants Glasgow Celtic, but the 20-year-old failed his medical due to a foot injury resulting in the collapse of the proposed transfer.
The centre-back becomes the club’s fourth major signing of the transfer window following the arrivals of Razak Brimah, George Lebese and Oupa Manyisa. Pitso Mosimane also handed youth development duo Thendo Mukumela and Keletso Makgalwa first-team contracts further instilling youth at Masandawana.
Ajax penned a statement on their official website publicising how the deal was concluded in addition to revealing the extend of Coetzee’s injury.
“Sundowns made a substantial offer to acquire Coetzee’s services and following lengthy discussions over the past 24 hours the two clubs reached an agreement for the transfer of the Kakamas-born defender.
“Coetzee visited two orthopedic surgeons that specialize in foot and ankle injuries this week, and following further investigation the medical specialists found that contrary to reports, his suspected foot injury wasn’t as serious as initially reported.
“Above mentioned specialists came to the conclusion that – if managed properly – Rivaldo will only miss between 6-8 weeks of action.
“Ajax Cape Town are disappointed that Coetzee’s dream move to Europe failed to come to fruition, but we are confident that he will soon find himself plying his trade in the biggest leagues in world football.
“Coetzee, who joined the Urban Warriors as a 15-year-old, was a fantastic servant to the club and we are confident that he will only go from strength-to-strength,” the statement read.
Rivaldo made close to a century of appearances for the Urban Warriors, scoring his maiden goal in the 1-1 draw against Golden Arrows, which ironically turned out to be his last game for the Mother City based outfit.
Sundowns will be without Coetzee for their African exploits as the defender missed the registration deadline for all new players looking to partake in Caf tournaments with their teams.
-This story originally appeared on SportsClub.co.za
