‘Before Sirino there was Mamelodi Sundowns’ – Meiring calls on Brazilians to let Uruguayan go

Former Mamelodi Sundowns striker Alton Meiring is of the opinion the South African giants should release forward Gaston Sirino.

The 30-year-old has been unsettled at the club with reports emerging he wants to leave for Egyptian giants Al Ahly, who are handled by his former coach Pitso Mosimane.

According to Meiring, the PSL champions should let the player leave because he will end up breaking the team’s spirit, and insisted there is no player who is bigger than any club and Sundowns also existed before his arrival.

“Of course they must let him go, man, there is no player bigger than a team. Before him there was Sundowns,” Meiring said as quoted by KickOff.com.

“After him, there will be Sundowns, and he must go wherever he wants to go because his heart is not there at Sundowns. Because for him to do all these things.

“I understand from his part he wants to play for somebody that he will free with and all that, but it looks like he has a connection with Pitso...so let him go.”

Meiring further said Sundowns will regret having an unhappy player in their squad, insisting he will end up bringing problems to the team.

“Now you gonna have an unhappy player, he's gonna bring problems in the team, you know how players are. So the best thing is they must let him go and use the space for somebody else. Percy Tau was in a different class and is local, and he never had that attitude,” Meiring continued.

“Sundowns had Tau who I believe was Sundowns' best player then, but Sundowns survived after him. So you know what? Sirino must go then. Somebody else will come.”

Sirino was first linked with Al Ahly towards the end of last year, not long after Mosimane took charge of Africa's club of the century.

The Uruguayan was again linked with African champions when two sides clashed in a two-legged Caf Champions League quarter-final last month, when after the first leg game in Egypt, he was seen wearing an Al Ahly jersey, which he had swapped with one of the opposition players.

It was then interesting, and perhaps telling to note, that after the return game at the Lucas Moripe Stadium, Sirino once more donned a red Al Ahly jersey.

This time he elected to cover it with a jacket, but that didn't take away from the fact he had the chance to show loyalty to his current club by declining a jersey swap - knowing the situation - but chose not to.

He was also seen on camera after the game exchanging what seemed like pleasantries with an Al Ahly official. And while it could be a case of reading too much into the situation, there did seem to be in the body language a closeness between the two of them.  

Sirino has played 123 matches for Masandawana and has contributed 32 assists and 29 goals in all competitions since arriving in the 2017/18 season – a year after the Brazilians had won the Champions League.