Birds deny Kobola return, Mashego swap

MOROKA Swallows coach Zeca Marques yesterday dismissed speculation of a return to the aviary for defender Vincent Kobola from University of Pretoria, and of a swap deal involving Katlego Mashego, the Birds' top scorer from last season, and Mamelodi Sundowns' Edward Manqele.

"No final decisions have been made yet in terms of securing players, but there are a lot of negotiations that are ongoing. There has been a lot of speculation in the media but that is all rumours," he said.

"At this stage things are quiet, but we are working hard behind the scenes. Our chairman [Leon Prins] has his finger on the pulse in that regard as he is working tirelessly in all negotiations."

To date, the club has parted ways with Bennett Chenene and David Mathebula (who moved to SuperSport United), Sibusiso Kumalo (Mamelodi Sundowns) and goalkeeper Aubrey Mathibe (AmaZulu).

Marques admitted to the process of acquiring new players being slow, but remained confident the Birds would manage to secure their targeted players.

The coach said they would not release any names of the players they had their eyes on until they had signatures on the contracts.

Defender Roger da Costa expressed his concern on Twitter this week, saying: "Not trying to be funny but this club of ours needs to sign some players. More leaving than coming in. Still early days but come now."

Club captain Lefa Tsutsulupa expressed his faith in the club's management in bringing in quality signings, adding that players should not be concerned.

"It's not an issue that there have been no signings yet. Anyway, that is not the players' department - the technical team and chairman will do what's best for the club," said Tsutsulupa.