Nasir to be 'ceiling raiser' for Downs

Mamelodi Sundowns coach Rulani Mokwena has sung the praises of new signing Abubeker Nasir following his impressive start to life in South Africa at the weekend.

Mokwena says Nasir is likely to be a œceiling raiser for the club, a term more commonly used in basketball for a key player whose inclusion in an already good team improves them almost instantly.

The Ethiopian international has hit the ground running at Chloorkop, scoring his first goal in the 4-0 drubbing of Kaizer Chiefs at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday.

"An incredible potential, surrounded by other incredible players. You can see that a player like Nasir is probably going to come to our club and become what you would call, in basketball, a 'ceiling raiser,'" said Mokwena.

"He comes into a very good team and with the qualities he possesses, he could raise our profile - especially offensively - into something else.

"He still has a lot of work to do, he's going to improve. The way we play and train, players are bound to improve and the same expectation can go into Nasir [but], again. I plead for patience and time, not to overhype him."

Downs, Mokwena reveals, were already investing in the 22-year-old before he joined their pre-season training by getting him an English tutor, as well as a translator now that he is here.

"When we signed him, he went back to Ethiopia and spent six months [during which] we had to get an English tutor to spend a bit of time with him, so that the level of his English can get better," he explained.

"It is at a relatively good standard, although now we've had to also hire a translator for him because we were struggling with some of the instructions and information we wanted to bring to him."

By Mazola Molefe