Baxter denies link to vacant Pirates job

Cape Town - Former Bafana Bafana coach Stuart Baxter has denied he has been in contact with Orlando Pirates officials over the recently vacated head coaching position.

Serbian Milutin Sredojevic sensationally resigned last Friday as Buccaneers mentor after weeks of speculation he was interested in joining Egyptian giants Zamalek.

Despite denying the reports, Sredojevic resigned due to "personal reasons" and the desire to take care of his mother back in Serbia.

On Monday, he was pictured in Egypt at the airport arriving ahead of his unveiling as head coach of Zamalek later that day. 

Meanwhile, Rulani Mokwena has taken over the Buccaneers on a caretaker basis, with Baxter rumoured to be in line to take on the mammoth task of mentoring the Sea Robbers.

In July, the Scotsman shocked the South African public by resigning as the national men's team mentor just two years into his five-year contract.

He has since left the country and is currently in Sweden "assessing his options" going forward.

"There’s absolutely no substance to rumours linking me with the Pirates job, even though I respect them as a football club," he said as quoted by Soccer Laduma.

"Even if I was to come back to South Africa at some point then it wouldn’t be now, because I’m back in Sweden and I’m assessing my options here.

The former Kaizer Chiefs coach added: "I’ve had interest from Steaua Bucuresti in Romania and there’s also been interest from other countries too.

"I’ve just been invited to Stockholm to be part of AIK’s Europa League game against Celtic, so that’s currently the next thing on my agenda."