SuperSport United head coach Gavin Hunt’s priority is to get the new Senegal forward acclimatised and used to the pace of South African football.
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Mamour Niang is the ideal focal point for playmakers as he embodies all the physical attributes of a traditional No.9 striker.
But it has been a while since the game against Swallows and Cape Town City. where Matsatsantsa A Pitori attracted attention and won 2-0 respectively, Hunt said there is still a lot of ground work to be done in the 24-year-old.
“He is a good player but he has to understand that in South Africa the players run faster than the ball, in Europe the ball runs faster than the players. That means he has to work hard,” said Hunt.
The four-time league-winning coach later revealed his reasons for bringing in another striker when he already has the established Thamsanqa Gabuza and the club’s top goalscorer, Bradley Grobler.
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Gabuza will turn 36 in July while Grobler celebrated his 35th birthday last month.
“You can’t have a stagnant team. We need to add some youth in the team and in the strike force. Bradley Grobler and Thamsanqa Gabuza have done well but you can’t rely on them every week.
“You can’t let the team get old and we have to make sure we have one eye on the future. We’ll try to use Bradley and Gabuza where we can,” said Hunt.
Niang came on as a second-half substitute in The Spartans’ win against City, playing wide up the pitch as he allowed Gamphani Lungu to take the lead role. However, Hunt said this is not the profile of a new recruit.
“It wasn’t the plan,” said the SuperSport mentor.