MASERU - Bantu star duo of Hlompho “Stiga” Kalake and Tsietsi Khooa have finally ended speculation on their future by both signing new two-year deals to remain in the books of the 2019/2020 Econet Premier League Champions.

Kalake has been hogging the headlines over the last two months with reports suggesting that the midfielder was making huge demands to remain with A Matšo Matebele. His reluctance to sign a new contract at Bantu had also attracted attention from other Premier League big guns, but they also failed to meet his demands and in the end, he returned to the negotiations table with the Mafeteng outfit.

Khooa, who is a South African, was said to be eyeing a return to his home country having established himself as one of the top defenders in the Econet Premier League. However, Bantu coach Bob Mafoso has confirmed that both players have now penned new deals after long negotiations with the management of the club.

“We had about seven players that had come to the end of their contracts and we are very happy that all of them have signed new deals,” Mafoso said. He added” “It shows that at the end of the day they are still happy to remain as part of the Bantu squad going forward.” Mafoso stated that retaining the services of all their star players will make life very easy for him and the club to plan for the new season that will include playing in the CAF Champions League.

The Lesotho Football Association (LeFA) recently declared Bantu as the 2019/2020 Econet Premier League Champions after the campaign was prematurely ended by the Corona Virus with eight matches still to go.  By the time the 2019/20 season was halted in March, Bantu was enjoying an 18 points advantage over second-placed Matlama. “Our goal was always to retain all our top players and work on reinforcing the squad and help the new players settle into our system,” Bantu coach added.