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Cape Town - Mamelodi Sundowns coach Pitso Mosimane says the club could not meet the financial demands of Khama Billiat, which prompted the star to join Kaizer Chiefs.
READ: Sundowns set to accept record breaking Percy Tau offer
Billiat reportedly turned down offers from both Sundowns and clubs abroad in order to make a lucrative move to Chiefs on a three-year deal.
The Zimbabwe international saw his deal at Chloorkop expire in June and speculation had been rife about where his next move might be.
Nonetheless, he recently made the switch to Naturena and Mosimane explained that the Brazilians simply could not afford to keep him due to the risk of unsettling the rest of the squad.
Speaking to Kickoff, he said: "It's his decision (to join Chiefs). That's what he wanted. But it's important for us as Sundowns to look after the dressing room.
"I think everybody knows that we look after our players well, and people know that we are not one of those clubs that don't pay.
"But, honestly speaking, if we gave Khama what he wanted, that he got from Chiefs, I would lose Themba Zwane, Tiyani Mabunda, Gaston Sirino, even Percy (Tau), who is still our player remember.
"I would lose Denis Onyango, African player of the year, Tebogo Langerman...I would lose all these players just for one man, no, it's not possible.
"I don't want to talk about other teams, they know what they're doing, but Denis Onyango is important to me. It means I must give all these players that kind of money. No, it's not possible.
"We would lose the dressing room. It's good for football where Khama went and got the money, because football is a short career, and we're happy for him."
"So, I’ll rather lose one player hey. We gave him a good offer. Trust me, it was a big offer. The offer that we gave, he could have been the highest paid player, which would probably have taken four years for that record to be broken."
