Lebese harbours no ill will over Sundowns departure

Cape Town - George Lebese has revealed that he bears no hard feelings towards Mamelodi Sundowns after he was released from his contract with the club on Monday.

Ahead of the closure of the South African transfer window on Monday night, the reigning Absa Premiership champions confirmed that the player and club have parted ways.

The 30-year-old Lebese, who penned a deal with Sundowns in 2017, took to social media on Tuesday to shed some light on his emotions following his departure from Masandawana.

"First of all, I’d like to take this moment to say thank you to everybody at Mamelodi Sundowns, from the President, to the board, to the management, the coach and technical team, and of course my teammates, for the opportunity and experience that was granted to me when I became part of that team," Lebese said on Instagram.

"Joining Sundowns when I did was something that made my family's dreams come true in terms of representing my hometown team, and it was chapter of my career where I learned, grew and acquired immense mental development qualities for myself during the experience. I will forever be grateful and take these improved qualities with me everywhere that I go.

"The decision to ask management for my clearance to leave the team was not an easy one, but it was one that severely thought through after assessing all of the risks and possible outcomes of doing so. With that in mind, I want to thank Sundowns for the countless meetings that we had in order to get to this final decision of them finally accepting my plea to get my clearance.

"Now I have to see what opportunities lie ahead of me as far as my football career is concerned, and I am well aware of how difficult it can be for a club to release a player that they have invested in from a business perspective. Sometimes things don’t work out in football, and sadly my time at Chloorkop was just one of those things, I don’t harbour any ill feeling about it.

"Thank you once more - a special shout out goes to the Sundowns faithful - and I wish the team nothing but success in this new season as I look forward to seeing what will be the next step for my own career."

View this post on Instagram

First of all, I’d like to take this moment to say thank you to everybody at Mamelodi Sundowns, from the President, to the board, to the management, the coach and technical team, and of course my teammates, for the opportunity and experience that was granted to me when I became part of that team. Joining Sundowns when I did was something that made my family’s dreams come true in terms of representing my hometown team, and it was chapter of my career where I learned, grew and acquired immense mental development qualities for myself during the experience. I will forever be grateful and take these improved qualities with me everywhere that I go. The decision to ask management for my clearance to leave the team was not an easy one, but it was one that severely thought through after assessing all of the risks and possible outcomes of doing so. With that in mind, I want to thank Sundowns for the countless meetings that we had in order to get to this final decision of them finally accepting my plea to get my clearance. Now I have to see what opportunities lie ahead of me as far as my football career is concerned, and I am well aware of how difficult it can be for a club to release a player that they have invested in from a business perspective. Sometimes things don’t work out in football, and sadly my time at Chloorkop was just one of those things, I don’t harbour any ill-feeling about it. Thank you once more - a special shoutout goes to the @sundownsfc faithful - and I wish the team nothing but success in this new season as I look forward to seeing what will be the next step for my own career.

A post shared by George•_•Lebese (@gl__17) on Sep 3, 2019 at 1:29am PDT

- Compiled by Tashreeq Vardien