Miguel Cardoso: Arthur Sales not a replacement for Lucas Ribeiro at Mamelodi Sundowns

Mamelodi Sundowns coach Miguel Cardoso believes Arthur Sales is a very good player who will be key to the club’s success — but he was quick to dispel any suggestion that the lanky forward is a direct replacement for his Brazilian compatriot Lucas Ribeiro.

The Portuguese coach essentially confirmed speculation that Ribeiro will be leaving the club while speaking to the media during the post-match press conference following their 2-0 Betway Premiership victory over AmaZulu on Tuesday night.

Ribeiro — the standout performer of last season and winner of both the Footballer of the Year and Players’ Player of the Year awards, as well as the Golden Boot for the 2024/25 campaign — is believed to be heading to Qatar.

Sales played on the right-hand side, the very position where Ribeiro previously shone. But Cardoso was quick to play down any expectations or pressure being placed on the younger Brazilian.

“It’s important that we understand one thing,” he said.

“Since last year, there’s been a lot of misunderstanding around Arthur Sales — people judging. First of all, people should look at him as himself and not imagine that, now he’s playing on the right, they’ll see Lucas Ribeiro.

“There’s no one who is going to be Lucas Ribeiro, and the coach is not looking for someone to be Lucas Ribeiro on the right — because that doesn’t exist.”

If ever there was confirmation that the attacker — who also won the award for Best Goal at the FIFA Club World Cup in the USA — is on his way out of Chloorkop, this was surely it.

“Lucas is Lucas, and Arthur is Arthur. Each player has his own characteristics. Arthur is a very good player who arrived in South Africa and wasn’t given the attention and credit he deserves.

“Now, gradually, people are starting to understand. And if you look at the numbers — how he impacted the team last year — you’ll realise that whenever he came onto the pitch, he was always contributing goals and assists. He was already important last year with the goals he scored.”

Cardoso believes Sales is often overlooked and underappreciated.

“He’s not pushed the way he deserves. He’s a little underrated considering what he’s really capable of, and today we saw a fantastic performance from him in the second half.”

Sales was involved in both goals — scored by Iqraam Rayners and Tashreeq Matthews — and his coach believes he could easily have scored one himself.

“If he could be a little more selfish, he might have had more than one goal. I remember he gave the ball to Peter [Shalulile] because he wanted him to get a goal — but that was a much easier chance for Arthur himself to score.

“He scores goals and he’ll continue scoring throughout the season — just like Peter, just like Iqraam — because he’s a player who has a good relationship with goals.”

He would certainly do well to find the net against Orlando Pirates in this weekend’s MTN8 semi-final first leg at Orlando Stadium — a performance that could finally earn him the plaudits his coach believes he deserves.