Agent Lifts Lid On Zwane's New Contract

Renowned football agent Jazzman Mahlakgane has opened up about Themba Zwane's new deal with Mamelodi Sundowns and admits the Bafana Bafana star was worried about his future prior to signing.

Zwane, 36, has penned a 1-year deal with the reigning CAF Champions League winners, which prolongs his stay at Chloorkop. He arrived at the Tshwane club in 2011 from amateur side, Vardos.

Despite Zwane's legendary status with the club, the new deal was not easy to negotiate.

"I think at some point he thought this is over, and I literally got to a point where I said, 'Okay, I know for a fact that the team values you as a player' to assure him that all would be well," Mahlakgane explains to Soccer Laduma.

"He started sort of saying, 'Hey, I've seen other players, this happened to them,' and I told him that I would put my neck on the block that he would have a new contract and he would go to the World Cup. Both these things happened, but I must say it wasn't easy (to get the new deal over the line).

"In fact, it's public knowledge that when they came back from winning the CAF Champions League, he was asked about the contract, and his response was, 'I'm not so sure.' He was honest and brutal about it, but I gave him an assurance that I was talking to the club and I was not getting the sense that the horse had bolted. So I was getting the sense that there's still a chance, and in the end, we got it done."

Meanwhile, Mahlakgane has backed Zwane to rekindle his old form, despite injury troubles in the past season, which limited his game time. The Tembisa-born playmaker made 23 appearances across all competitions last term and, more often than not, came off the bench.

Mahlakgane, however, reckons Zwane, who has almost 450 appearances for the Brazilians, still has the legs to play for the next few seasons.

Read: Cardoso to Stay: Sundowns Activate Extension After CAF Glory

"I can only be grateful more than anything for him to still be at that level. So from a manager's point of view, you also want to have the record-breaking age that he played until a certain age.

"Because of his great lifestyle—the family man that he is and the effort he gives every time he's on the pitch, I see him playing much longer. The element that he brings onto the pitch that not too many players can bring, which is a fact you know, so those elements you're going to find very hard for the generations to come from the type of player that he is," adds Mahlakgane.