Tuks aim to avoid loans

Pretoria - University of Pretoria coach Steve Barker says the club are hoping not to have to go into the loan market this season.

AmaTuks have been one of the biggest exponents of the loan market since winning promotion to the top-flight for the 2012/13 season, but Barker says he hopes it is a thing of the past.

"It was always the plan that we would use a lot of loaned players in our first season, then reduce for last year and then less more in this season," Barker tells supersport.com.

"Hopefully we won’t have any at all and we will be able to make permanent signings.

"But it is still early days to be able to make that call, we must still see how one or two deals pan out in the next while before we know how we will operate in the market."

The club used loans to bring in players with top-flight experience, but now that they have two years under their belt their fulltime contracted players, the need is less.

Two players on loan last season have returned to their parent clubs, with Raymond Monama rejoining Mamelodi Sundowns and Lantshene Phalane heading back to Platinum Stars.