Mamelodi Sundowns head coach, Miguel Cardoso, has explained why the club decided against exercising the buyout option for Argentinian defender Lucas Suarez.
Suarez arrived at the Tshwane giants on loan at the start of the 2024/25 season from his parent club, Club Atlético Lanús, competing in the Argentine Primera División.
The 30-year-old was expected to reinforce the left side of the defence, replacing Moroccan Abdelmounaim Boutouil, who joined Wydad Athletic Club.
However, the Argentine struggled significantly, making several costly individual errors that led to goals. This poor performance ultimately resulted in him being dropped and falling out of favour with Cardoso. Notably, he was at fault in matches against Orlando Pirates and Kaizer Chiefs.
Suarez was left behind when Sundowns travelled to the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup and last week trained with a small group of players who remained at Chloorkop.
WHY LUCAS SUAREZ HAS BEEN RELEASED
Cardoso has since explained the club’s decision to cut ties with the left-footed defender.
“Lucas is not with us. It’s not taboo, it’s normal information I can provide, so until the moment we didn’t move forward on his option,” the Portuguese mentor explained.
“It’s a player that had his moments with us, that we supported, but unfortunately, in the end, things did not work out the way we wanted. But it doesn’t mean he’s not a quality player. He’s a quality player, and it doesn’t mean there was a mistake in his scouting.”
He emphasised the need to evaluate him as a foreigner, rather than merely a defender. Masandawana might consider using the foreign spot previously occupied by Suarez when enhancing their squad for the upcoming season.
“There was not a mistake but the question is the competition at centre-back is very tough at Mamelodi Sundowns, and the line is so thin between being important and not being important, and as a foreigner, that’s an extra value and we had to evaluate him as a foreigner and not as a centre-back.
“When you think of the composition of the squad for the future, eventually that’s where we stand on our position,” added the Sundowns coach.
During his six-month loan at Sundowns, Suarez made 14 appearances in all competitions and netted one goal.
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