Maritzburg United chairman Farook Kadodia has stressed the money they received for skipper Thabiso Kutumela from Mamelodi Sundowns isn’t really going to lessen the club’s financial burden, revealing they’ve allocated it for buying new players.

Last Friday, Maritzburg sold Kutumela to Sundowns. While Sowetan has established the financially challenged KwaZulu-Natal outfit sold Kutumela for a fee in the region of R6m, Kadodia has emphasised the money they got for their talisman won’t eradicate their financial woes as it’ll be used to recruit new playing personnel instead.

“The thing is, we are still not financially viable. Kutu’s sale will only help us because we normally trade to buy new players. We will invest Kutu’s money in new players, that’s what we’ve been doing. So the bigger picture of our finances doesn’t change,’’ Kadodia told Sowetan yesterday.

The Maritzburg boss couldn’t be drawn into commenting on the actual amount the Brazilians paid them for the 28-year-old Kutumela, who netted 14 goals across all competitions to finish as the side’s top-scorer in the past campaign.

Last month, Kadodia publicly disclosed they were financially challenged, saying they were even prepared to sell their status if they don’t secure a sponsor. However, the Maritzburg owner has since changed his tune despite insisting their finances haven’t improved even after selling Kutumela.

“I can categorically state that there are no negotiations underway to sell the club and that there are no plans to sell the club,” said Kadodia in a statement.

Meanwhile, the Team of Choice yesterday unveiled four players in defender Alfred Ndengane, midfielder Zukile Kewuti, winger Lifa Hlongwane and attacking midfielder Rowan Human.

Kewuti, who spent the second half of last season on loan at AmaZulu, was bought from Cape Town City. Ndengane, Hlongwane and Human were all free-agents, having respectively parted ways with Marumo Gallants, Black Leopards and Israeli side Beitar Tel Aviv Bat Yam at the end of the 2020/21 term.

Maritzburg also welcomed assistant coach Maahier Davids back to the club. Davids spent three years with Maritzburg between 2015 and 2018. Pedro Ramos, a performance and video analyst from Portugal, has also been roped in.