Terrence Mawawa

Mamelodi Sundowns coach Pitso Mosimane has explained why they let Khama Billiat go at the end of his contract.

Billiat has joined rivals Kaizer Chiefs on a free transfer, signing a three-year-deal.

In an interview with KickOff.com, Mosimane said the club was not willing to meet Billiat’s demands and risk losing other players in the process.

“I think everybody knows that we look after our players well.”

“But, honestly speaking, if we gave Khama what he wanted we would lose Themba Zwane, Tiyani Mabunda, Gaston Sirino, even Percy [Tau], who is still our player remember.”

“I would lose Denis Onyango – African player of the year, Tebogo Langerman … I would lose all these players just for one man – no, it’s not possible.”

“I don’t want to talk about other teams, they know what they’re doing, but Denis Onyango is important to me. It means I must give all these players that kind of money. No, it’s not possible.”

Pitso also revealed that their offer to Billiat already exceeded the PSL’s record for earnings, but believes the Zimbabwean international was lured by an even more lucrative offer at Amakhosi.

“We gave him a good offer. Trust me, it was a big offer. The offer that we gave, he could have been the highest paid player, which would probably have taken four years for that record to be broken.

“Where he is now, I don’t know how many years it’s going to take to break his record.”