Bakgaga Ba Mphahlele have moved swiftly to sign the duo as they prepare for the new 2020/21 season which is expected to start next month
Baroka FC have beefed up their squad with the signing of Oscarine Masuluke and Augustine Mahlonoko.
Bakgaga Ba Mphahlele will be campaigning in the Premier Soccer League (PSL) next season after avoiding relegation to the National First Division (NFD) in the 2019/20 campaign.
The Limpopo-based side has re-signed Masuluke, who helped the team secure promotion to the elite league from the NFD in 2016.
Masuluke left Baroka 2018 after reports of misconduct, alongside former captain Olaleng Shaku and former coach Kgoloko Thobejane.
The 27-year-old goalkeeper was released by Bakgaga Ba Mphahlele following allegations that he and other teammates drank on the team bus.
Baroka chairman Khurishi Mphahlele has confirmed the return of the towering shot-stopper, who spent the last two seasons with NFD outfit TS Sporting.
“Masuluke is a very good boy and we love him. He did apologise for what he did, which I can’t mention, and I did accept his apology,” Mphahlele told Far Post.
“My way of showing that I accept his apology is to welcome him back to his team. He promoted this team, it’s his team.”
Masuluke made headlines around the world after his last-minute bicycle kick goal earned Baroka a 1-1 draw with the Orlando Pirates in a PSL match in November 2016.
The goal was then nominated for the 2017 Fifa Puskas Award and Masuluke finished second in the voting, with then-Arsenal striker Olivier Giroud elected the winner and Venezuelan female footballer Deyna Castellanos taking third.
Mphahlele also confirmed that they have also signed former Pirates attacking midfielder Mahlonoko, who has been a free agent since July 2020.
“The boy from Pirates, we know him from the MDC. He gave us a run for our money,” Mphahlele added.
“We like him and when we heard that he is free, we went straight to his home and negotiated with his agent to get him here, so he is coming.”
The 19-year-old player was nurtured in the Pirates academy and he went on to become the club’s youngest ever debutant in August 2018 – at the age of 16 years and 352 days.
However, Mahlonoko was recently released by the Buccaneers having played just four competitive matches for the team.
Masuluke and Mahlonoko have both signed three-year-deals with Baroka.
Be the first to comment