While Abubeker Nasir's injury troubles have raised plenty questions, the Ethiopian forward has been given a familiar hand of support as he deals with his latest challenge.
Nasir will not play any football this season at SuperSport United, where he is on a season-long loan from parent club Mamelodi Sundowns.
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So bad is his situation that he was de-registered in January as one of five foreign players and will have only played 17 matches since Sundowns brought into the country from Ethiopia in June 2022.
Nasir will turn 25 on Sunday with little to celebrate.
"Abubeker scored a lot of goals when he was playing for us, so he is always a player of interest to us," says Fekade Mamo, the president of Ethiopian Coffee, where Nasir played before joining the Tshwane giants.
Mamo spoke to KickOff.com from Addis Ababa.
"The next question then becomes his availability, fitness, and terms of employment.
"Right now, we hear he is injured, and we don't know if he will play football again or when he will come back.
"He must go through a medical process, and it is sad to hear that he will not play football this season.
"For now, it seems he has battled to keep up with the demands of the fitness levels demanded of players in Europe.
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"It is sad that he has been struggling with all these injuries because it is also affecting his national team career, which has been excluding him.
"However, what we know is that he is a very good player," says Mamo.