Rantie Sundowns

Tokelo Rantie of South Africa during the AFCON Qualifier match between South Africa and Mauritania 02 September 2016 at Mbombela Stadium Pic Sydney Mahlangu/ BackpagePix

Tokelo Rantie hits yet another speed-bump on his road to redemption

The eagerly anticipated return of South African football bad boy Tokelo Rantie has been placed on hold until next season due to an ankle injury.

Rantie Sundowns

Tokelo Rantie of South Africa during the AFCON Qualifier match between South Africa and Mauritania 02 September 2016 at Mbombela Stadium Pic Sydney Mahlangu/ BackpagePix

Former Bafana Bafana international Tokelo Rantie has hit yet another speed-bump in his quest to return to playing professional football.

The former Bournemouth striker has been on trial at Premier Soccer League (PSL) outfit Bloemfontein Celtic since February 2020 however his assessment at the club was suspended due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Rantie resumed his trial under Celtics’ new head coach John Maduka in June after football was given the green light to return. The club have since confirmed yet another stumbling block in Rantie’s path with the striker picking up an ankle injury that has ruled him out of contention to feature for them this season.

Rantie’s return hits another speed-bump

Bloemfontein Celtic have confirmed that any hope of Rantie featuring for Phunya Sele Sele in the final 6 weeks of the 2019/20 PSL campaign has been dashed due to an ankle injury.

“Tokelo has been training very hard and was unfortunate to pick up an ankle injury recently,” Bloemfontein Celtic head coach Maduka told KickOff.

“With the current situation, I think we can only entertain the possibility of signing him next season.”

Three strikes, you’re out?

Celtic will become Rantie’s third club in the PSL since his return to South Africa in 2018 if they secure his signature. Despite joining both Cape Town City and Mamelodi Sundowns, Rantie did not feature for a single minute in an official game with both of his former clubs claiming the Stars of Africa academy graduate has ‘personal issues’ to take care of.

“I am not disappointed because I feel I have done my part,” Pitso Mosimane said regarding Rantie in January 2020.

“I spoke to you guys and said ‘what do you think is going to happen’ because this guy has a reputation. “I said ‘give this guy a chance, give him a lifeline’ so that’s what I did. Basically, what you guys were saying or Cape Town City were saying came out the same way. What can I do? I can’t do anything.”

Bloemfontein Celtic will continue with their preparations ahead of next week’s return to football in Gauteng’s bio-bubble. The Free State outfit currently sit in 9th position with 7 games to go. They have been handed the TUKS stadium as their bio-bubble home until the end of the season.