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Cape Town - The injury nightmare of Mamelodi Sundowns defender Rivaldo Coetzee looks to be even worse than expected, with his career seemingly having come to a premature end.
READ: Pitso doubts if Rivaldo Coetzee will recover from injury
Exactly a year after a failed move to Scottish giants Glasgow Celtic fell through, Coetzee’s promising career is on the ropes thanks to a chronic underlying foot injury.
Head coach Pitso Mosimane dishearteningly said after his side’s MTN 8 clash against Cape Town City on Saturday that the 21-year-old's injury showed little signs of improving as he was still plagued by pain to his right foot.
"We can't do anything, we have to wait. He is kicking a little bit, he is touching the ball, he is coming up, 'pain...coach, pain,' sometimes he is okay, (but) I feel sorry, what a talent hey," Mosimane was quoted as saying.
"But we at Sundowns, we are patient, it is not easy when you spend so much money on him, but that is football.
"I told him that he needs to pray a lot, maybe these things can change you never know."
Sport24 can now reveal that a high-ranking source within Sundowns confirmed that Coetzee is unlikely to play soccer again due to his complex foot injury.
The information obtained by Sport24 suggested that if Coetzee were to attempt to play through the pain by taking injections, he would simply not be able to walk the next day while the injury cannot be operated on due to there being so many intricate bones in close proximity to each other.
Ajax had previously confirmed that Coetzee's proposed transfer to Scottish Champions Celtic had fallen through after failing a routine medical examination.
The Celtic medical department discovered an underlying problem with his right foot and were therefore unable to conclude a deal.
Ajax stated at the time that they were not aware of any condition but said they were fully committed to giving the player the care and attention required in order to make a full recovery.
Just four days later though on August 31, 2017 an injured Coetzee sealed a surprise move to Masandawana on a reported five-year deal on transfer deadline day.
It is now being alleged that Ajax Cape Town offered the player to Sundowns without disclosing the extent of the injury, with a transfer being hastily completed and without a medical examination being done.
It was well documented previously that Sundowns had always been keen admirers of the player.
The deal was so rushed that, on the eve of signing with Sundowns, Coetzee nearly faced a night behind bars after he was arrested for speeding at 198km/h in Cape Town.
Sundowns said later the player had been rushing to the Goodwood Police Station to certify documents when he was flagged down by a traffic cop in the vicinity of Goodwood on Thursday night on the N1 highway.
Sport24 contacted Ajax Cape Town, who declined to comment on the matter.
