Sven's loss could be Tsepo and Macca's gain

You could forgive Tsepo Masilela for being more than slightly annoyed right now. The Bafana Bafana left back was in Sweden a couple of weeks ago as he looked to put the finishing touches to his season-long loan to Leicester City, when along comes Liverpool misfit Paul Konchesky.

Despite having worked on a deal with Masilela and his club Maccabi Haifa nearly two months, Leicester boss Sven Goran Eriksson decided to pull the plug at the last minute and sign the one-time England international  instead. Sound unfair? Just a little bit - but then Sven has never really been known for his loyal streak.

While manager of England, the Swede was famously courted by Roman Abramovich to take over at Chelsea and was even fooled into accepting an apparently lucrative deal to join Aston Villa presented by the infamous 'Fake Sheikh' in a sting for the now defunct News of the World. And then there were all the women.

So it should really have come as no surprise to Masilela and his representatives that the slippery Sven ducked out of a deal at the last minute. After all, with the likes of Lazio and Notts County behind him, Eriksson is busy building yet another over-priced squad that will be under enormous pressure to achieve promotion at the first time of asking and has no time to think about niceties such as keeping your word.

All of which leaves Masilela in a very difficult situation. Having seen the move to Leicester fall through, he has been training with PSL club Moroka Swallows in a bid to retain his fitness.

Meanwhile, his club Maccabi Haifa will face a crucial third round qualifying match against Slovenian champions Maribor on Wednesday as they bid to win a place in the Champions League group stages. But with the Israeli champions having already agreed to allow the full back to depart and having finalised their squad, Masilela finds himself out in the wilderness with only weeks left to resolve his future.

Salvation could come in the form of another ex-England manager. New Nottingham Forest boss Steve McClaren served as Eriksson's assistant before infamously bungling his attempt to fill the top post as his team failed to qualify for Euro 2008.

Winning the Dutch title with FC Twente went some way to rebuilding his shattered reputation (Dutch impressions aside http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VWptErAWrmQ&feature=related), even if the spell with in the Bundesliga with Wolfsburg didn't end so well. Nonetheless, Forest have decided to give chance to return to his home country and it seems there is a good chance Masilela could join him after speaking to his agent Mike Makaab this week. http://www.kickoff.com/news/23184/tsepo-masilela-linked-to-english-championship-side-nottingham-forest.php

And with Forest having finished a full eight points clear of Leicester in the Championship last season, who is to say McClaren will not have the last laugh over his former boss?
 

Tsepo joins Sven's latest benefactors

It's hard to think of any supporters who will be looking forward to the start of the season as much as Leicester City's. As Sven Goran Eriksson's spending spree continues at The Walkers Stadium, (the signing of defender Matthew Mills from Reading last week for a club record £4.5 million made it six new signings so far) Bafana Bafana left back Tsepo Masilela joined the Foxes' squad in Sweden this weekend.

He was expected to have his medical ahead on Monday as the first step on completing a year-long deal from Israeli champions Maccabi Haifa, although Eriksson did voice concerns about his fitness last week. But after recovering from a serious knee injury that wrecked the start of his year, the 26-year-old who famously made his international debut before playing in South Africa's top-flight should have no problems having returned to action for his club at the start of April.

A UK permit should then be the only stumbling block but his status as a Bafana Bafana regular and experience of Champions League football should also make that a formality. Whether he can actually get a chance to show what he can do is another matter entirely.

There were rumours on Monday that Eriksson is also sizing up a move for Liverpool reject Paul Konchesky - reportedly on ludicrous wages of around £40,000 a week - and that could mean trouble for Masilela. Even if the man who somehow acquired two England caps takes a substantial pay-cut, his cost and experience of the Championship is likely to put him ahead of the Bafana full back - not to mention the other options already at the club.

Over the weekend, South African coach Pitso Mosimane warned his players that they must not join clubs where they will be spending most of their Saturdays keeping warm on the bench. The Benni McCarthy-dominated days of European-based superstars waltzing back into the Bafana team regardless of whether they were playing for their clubs are clearly over, meaning Masilela may find himself out in the cold very soon.

The lack of a real rival at international should keep him safe for the two remaining African Nations Cup qualifiers, although Bafana's likely presence in Gabon and Equatorial Guinea in January will not exactly help his cause at Leicester. A player who is not the most at ease with the media, Masilela will nonetheless get his head down and work hard to fulfil his life-long dream of playing in England's top-flight by making his move permanent next summer.

Under a manager who has already won 17 major trophies for some of Europe's biggest clubs during a 35-year career, he should have a real chance of achieving that. But with UEFA's Financial Fair Play rules due to be introduced next season, it could be now or never for Leicester City.

Their fans will just be hoping Sven's latest spending spree is more Lazio than Notts County.