Miguel Cardoso justifies why Mamelodi Sundowns did not sign players ahead of the 2025 Fifa Club World Cup - 'It made no sense'

Mamelodi Sundowns opted against signing new players ahead of the 2025 Fifa Club World Cup after Fifa opened a transfer window for the tournament.

The Brazilians coach, Miguel Cardoso, explains why they chose not to add new men to their squad that will do duty at this competition.

“So, there was a moment of rebuilding the team and justifying to bring in new players to start the new process," said Cardoso as per iDiski Times.

"Ahly, the same situation with new coach, new moments, new training – so why not, if there’s a new style of philosophy, why not bring in new players? 

“The question [of not signing players?], we played the Champions League final and we had to fight until the last second of the last match – and after that we never had much time to train, so bringing in new players, or pieces that could fit the puzzle directly, or having to move the puzzle to fit the piece? It made no sense,” added the Portuguese trainer. 

“That is what happened, so we decided to keep the squad, it’s a reality that we totally support and able to give us the condition we want to fight for the best result of the competition but at the same time also rewarding the players for what they did throughout the season.

“We were together and fought together until the end in the Champions League, if we fought together to watch the South African championship, why not bring the team all together to fight for something more." 

For a team that was brutally exposed and recently lost the Caf Champions League final to Pyramids FC, Masandawana were expected to fortify their squad.

But Cardoso has stuck to the men who struggled to deliver the continental title to Chloorkop.

He would be hoping the material he has at his disposal will shine on the global stage.

By not signing new players for the World Cup, Cardoso will be banking on correcting where he thinks they went wrong in the Champions League.

The Brazilians face South Korean side Ulsan HD in their Club World Cup Group F opener on Wednesday, and it will be seen if players like Themba Zwane and Peter Shalulile will be given a chance to start.