Mamelodi Sundowns set to sign South Africa Under-20 captain Lazola Maku

Mamelodi Sundowns are planning to sign South Africa Under-20 captain Lazola Maku on a free transfer after the midfielder’s spell with Siwelele FC last season.

The 19-year-old is expected to join the newly crowned MTN8 champions, although the initial plan is for him to play in the DStv Diski Challenge (DCC) side rather than move directly into the first team.

“He’s not coming straight into the first team. The plan is to slowly introduce him into the system,” a source at Sundowns told Soccer Laduma.

Maku previously came through the Ubuntu Football Academy and recently attracted interest during trials in Austria with SV Ried, FC Wacker Innsbruck and Rapid Vienna. He is understood to have impressed during those spells.

Born on 10 April 2007 in Masiphumelele, Hout Bay, Maku is a defensive midfielder who can also operate as a playmaker. His move to Sundowns would see him become one of the club’s “Brazilians”, as the Pretoria side are known.

The teenager is regarded as a promising player for the future and has already achieved success with South Africa’s junior national teams.

He was named in the Team of the Tournament when Amajita won their first-ever Under-20 Africa Cup of Nations title last year.

Maku also featured for the South Africa Under-20 team that won the COSAFA Cup in Mozambique last month.

He has since been included in the preliminary South Africa Under-23 squad for next month’s AFCON/Olympic Games qualifiers against Madagascar.

Sundowns declined to comment when contacted.