The Brazilians have thrown the former Strasbourg striker a lifeline, taking him on board as a free agent following long spells on sidelines after surgery and injuries while in France.

Mothiba has not played an official match since December 2023, but Cardoso is open to giving him a run in the next few weeks.

"I really hope so because Mothiba is a quality player, high quality player that comes from a long period of absence, of no competition, a big injury and a long period of recovery,” Cardoso said.

“Since he joined, he had small setbacks but small which had nothing to do with an injury he had but trying to get conditioned and his muscles responding. It's a player that we need to treat like a crystal, very carefully but we are willing to do it, a lot.

“He's a wonderful person and human being and we are happy to have him among us but we need to give him all the conditions so he can recover and help us in the future. I still have expectations that he can play for us before the end of the championship."

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The Sundowns coach revealed that Mothiba managed some crucial minutes in a friendly match at the club’s training quarters this weekend.

"This week or yesterday, the players that were not with us made a joint training session with the Diski team and he played in a two times 20 minutes, he played 15 minutes in that match, without conditioning,” the coach added.

“We are patient, he's patient. We are also anxious, he's also anxious but we know what we have to do and we are gonna do it together so that he can join us in the future."

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