MAMELODI Sundowns have hit out at what they see as an attempt to push through striker Katlego Mphela's transfer to Kaizer Chiefs this month.

Mphela has signed a pre-contract with Amakhosi that will kick in on July 1.

It means he remains contracted to the Brazilians until then, but the club say he has gone AWOL from training and suggest this is an attempt to force them to release the player to Chiefs this month.

The Brazilians have gone to Zambia for a four-team tournament without the striker who, they say, has skipped training and has not made contact with the club.

"Mphela has failed to report for training and has not informed anyone at the club about his whereabouts," the club said in a statement.

That was followed by media reports that Downs could save themselves R1.8-million in salaries, or R300000 per month, if they released the player to Naturena now.

But the club have hit out at those "crazy" figures and what they see as an orchestrated move to push the deal through now.

"This is not the first time that Mphela's agent (Glyn Binkin) has made insulting statements about Sundowns," club spokesman Kabelo Mosito said in a statement.

"He did that when Mphela went AWOL at a critical time for Sundowns a few seasons ago ... We are therefore not surprised that Katlego has gone AWOL once more even though Binkin claims in reports that he does not know where the player is."

Binkin said he would encourage Mphela to return to Sundowns to honour the remainder of his contract.