Article by Scelo Mnotho ( Editor: Lerato Mkhondo)
George ‘Mido’ Maluleka is a central midfielder who has worked tirelessly to possess himself as an excellent all-around midfield maestro.
From his early days as a Supersport United and University of Pretoria player, Maluleka showed the technical ability to be a great and quality player through his style of play.
His loan spell to teams such as the University of Pretoria and Ajax Cape Town helped him grow and established himself as one of South Africa’s young astonishing midfielders. He played with some exciting youngsters at Ajax. The likes of Lebohang Manyama, Thulani Serero, and Khama Billiat.
Maluleka’s magnificent time with Ajax earned him a move back to his parent club in 2012 where he kept the engine running smoothly in the middle park for Matsatsantsa.
In 2014, his pivotal role with SSU earned him a sensational move to the South of Johannesburg where he played for Kaizer Chiefs. He went on to make a name for himself during his memorable stay with the Naturena based club. He formed part of a formidable midfield partnership with Mandla Masango and George Lebese which saw the birth of the nickname ‘MALEMA’ -a combination of the trio’s names for their excellent attributes which contributed to the success of the Phefeni Boys.
How he moved to Mamelodi Sundowns.
Mido’s time with Amakhosi came to end after five years following his move to Mamelodi Sundowns in 2020. He was an important player for the Glamour Boys and contributed significantly during his final season with the Soweto giants who lost out in a title race that year. Before making his way to Chloorkop, it was understood Maluleka and Chiefs were in contract extension negotiations with hopes to keep him at Naturena Village. However, the negotiations didn’t bear fruitful results as both Chiefs and Maluleka could not reach a mutual agreement to keep the Tembisa-born at the club.
The lapsing of the contract talks did not only see them lose an outstanding player but led them to lose out on the league title on the final day of the 2019/20 season to Sundowns. Maluleka missed out on being featured in Chiefs’ remaining games of the season following reports which alleged that the player had signed a pre-contract with another club.
It was later revealed that the 32-year-old had signed a pre-contract with Mamelodi Sundowns and later joined them in a move that afflicted Amakhosi faithful. Mido’s move to Masandawna was deemed beneficial as it made financial sense for him and as well as for his career as he was still in the quest for more trophy glory before he hanging up his boots in the future.
It is widely known Sundowns that is a star-studded team and was well expected for Mido to be patient before he could break into the first team. However, due to his quality, the skillful player was guaranteed game time. This being evident after he eventually managed to break into the starting line-up of former Downs coach, Pitso Mosimane.
How did Pitso’s departure affect him?
Pitso left the Chloorkop side before the start of the 2020/21 season and joined African giants, Al Ahly – leaving behind the player whom he had recently signed at the time. Mosimane’s departure to Egypt did not anticipate any negative impact on Maluleka as he was left in the care of Manqoba Mngqithi and Rulani Mokwena. Plans to use Mido’s services at Chloorkop were inevitable as the now two joint coaches also played a role in securing his signature from Chiefs.
When the 2020/21 DSTV premiership season started, the co-coaches assembled their new team. They slowly instilled a new philosophy but not many changes were implemented from the strong foundation they laid together with their former coach.
Maluleka started from the bench at the beginning of the league campaign, with Downs ship steered by Mnqithi and Mokwena. It became more challenging for the player to earn a spot in the Sundowns lineup as the competition was tight and seemingly the coaches preferred to use Rivaldo Coetzee, Siphelele Mkhulise, Lebohang Maboe, Andile Jali, Mothobi Mvala, and Hlompho Kekana ahead of him.
The competition became more difficult for Maluleka he kept dropping down the pecking order. Masandwana faithful had different views regarding Mido’s hard time at Chloorkop. Some implied that had Pitso still been with the Tshwane giants, things would’ve been slightly different for struggling Maluleka.
There is no doubt that Maluleka possesses all the qualities needed in a central midfielder and was a fantastic choice to run things smoothly in the middle area of Masandawana.
Did he make a wrong decision by Joining Sundowns?
Maluleka’s frustrating season was remedied with the league title winners medal. Although he did not feature as much as he would have liked in most games for Downs, he can be proud of himself as he achieved his dream of winning a trophy after a long time and added to his accolades while his former team’s trophy drought continues.
It seems as though Maluleka will go down as one of Sundowns’ flops when it comes to signings and will join the long list of players who failed to make their name at the Pretoria-based side. Playing for Mamelodi Sundowns comes with the territory a strong competition, this is a known fact. However, it is only fair to give Maluleka the benefit of the doubt. He had promised to make use of his exceptional experience and skills to establish himself at Downs but things didn’t quite work out for him. Age is another factor for Mido which puts him at a disadvantage in getting regular game time. He is slowly becoming a forgotten player as well.
The second edition of the DSTV premiership campaign is underway and Maluleka has not played let alone being featured in the matchday squad. He was also not part of the team that defeated Chiefs in the MTN8.
Although it’s still early days to determine whether Mido will get to play this season or not, by the look of things – it appears as though things will remain the same for Mido. It would be ignorant to disregard how lack of game time may affect him mentally and physically.
Had Maluleka remained at Naturena, he would have turned out to become the club’s legend. His attributes would have played a massive role in the team. Mido would have probably made more history and perhaps help the club to end their trophy drought rather than him just warming up the bench at the DSTV Premiership champions.
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