SuperSport United’s New Signings

Many clubs have been active in the winter transfer market to date with SuperSport United the latest DSTV Premiership club to announce a host of signings late last week. Whilst the club lost a key number of players to rival clubs – Thapelo Maseko (Mamelodi Sundowns), Thatayaone Ditlokwe (Kaizer Chiefs), and Patrick Maswanganyi (Orlando Pirates) they have also brought in important players to replace them. In this segment, we look at some of the new signings that Gavin Hunt has made and what they can bring to the squad.

Terrence Dzvukamanja

The former Bucs player is one of the bigger names from the pot considering he was on the books of rivals Orlando Pirates just last week. The striker is one of several players to re-join his old coach whom he previously spent time playing under him at Bidvest Wits before the club got sold at the end of the 2019/20 season.

Coach Hunt had previously indicated that the system he plays may change due to the personnel change of departing players. Having said that, there is a sense from the data that the incoming players fit very well into how SuperSport United played last season. The club was the leading team for crosses of any top-flight team averaging 20 crosses per game with a 33% success rate (1 in every 3 crosses were accurate). While Dzvukamanja is no high-volume shot taker due to the minutes played last season, he did take and rank very high for headed shots. His conversion rate ranked him highest in terms of all players with a conversion rate of 50% of 12 headed shots. Fellow new signing Etiosa Ighodaro came second with a 24% conversion rate off his 17 headed shots.

Grant Margeman

Getting Margeman on a permanent deal instead of a loan deal is a big deal for Matsatsantsa. His partnership in the centre of the field with fellow signing Siphisihle Ndlovu worked wonders for the club last season so there will be hope that the two can combine well for 2023/24. The central midfielder was one of the most active in the middle of the park last season, varying his passing ability between short/medium passes along with the ability to hit accurate long passes that found teammates. Beyond that, he was also decent in intercepting opposition players.

The radar below showed him to be a general all-rounder of a central midfielder, a player with a keen eye for a pass into space, and a player who dictated play in the middle. His performances last season helped him win the club’s Players’ Player of the Season for 2022/23, very deserving considering he had previously struggled to find game time at Chloorkop.

Phathutshedzo Nange

Nange is another recruit that teams back up with coach Hunt from their Bidvest Wits days. The central midfielder had two decent seasons at Stellenbosch (20/21) and Kaizer Chiefs (21/22) whilst the previous 2022/23 season proved very difficult for him. Falling out of favour under Arthur Zwane, Nange featured a total of three times across all league games last season. If Hunt can get Nange back playing, the options available to the squad will increase immensely. You just have to look at his central midfield radar from the 2021/22 season.

Other signings

The remaining signings that the club announced last week were Etiosa Ighodaro who joins the club on loan from cross-city rivals Mamelodi Sundowns. Midfielder Siphesihle Ndlovu joins from Orlando Pirates, with the remaining players being goalkeeper Washington Arubi (Marumo Gallants), Ronald Pfumbidzai (Chippa United), and 20-year-old central defender Abdulrazack Hamza from Tanzanian club Namungo FC.