Patrick “Tito” Maswanganyi has not been sacked, he has not quit, and his manager says someone is trying to destroy his name.

Speculation that the midfielder had mutually terminated his contract with Al-Khaldiya SC over alleged ill-discipline trended on social media over the weekend.

Now Arnold Rankoko, his long-term confidant and manager, has shut it down in an angry interview with KickOff on Monday afternoon.

“There is someone who clearly has it in for this boy,” Rankoko said. “There is nothing of the sort at all.

“In fact, he is preparing for their game on Wednesday. You can even go to the club’s Instagram page and see his pictures there. This is all fake news.”

Rankoko believes the story is part of a deliberate attempt to smear the player.

“They are trying everything to paint him as a rotten apple,” he added. “He is being targeted, and people are going all out to assassinate his character, painting him as a Bad Boy. But if you want to know Tito, ask anyone who has played with him, and they will tell you.”

To explain Maswanganyi’s quiet personality, Rankoko reached for some big names.

“He is more like (Michael) Olise. He does not talk, and at times you would think he’s not there. It’s just that people out there don’t have the intelligence to read someone’s character. Jose Riveiro managed to get the best out of him because he knew what type of person he is.

“During his playing days, Doctor Khumalo spoke less and did his talking on the field, and people thought he was arrogant. Same with Brian Baloyi. His character off the field was different to the one he displayed on the pitch.”

Rankoko was furious that the story spread without anyone checking the facts.

“Even more disappointing is that no one had the decency to ask the team, the player, people close to the player. Somebody just decided to write something that’s fake, and the whole of South Africa has seen it. They say he terminated his contract. Do they have a copy? The story has spread like wildfire, but there’s no story.”

The manager also revealed that stories like this were exactly why Maswanganyi left South Africa.

“That’s why he had to move, because of things like this,” he explained. “Every day (when he was in South Africa), there was a story like this, and he never got an opportunity to defend himself. That is why he will never come back to South Africa… you can quote me on that!”

On the pitch, Rankoko says the midfielder is doing his job.

“He has played all the games since he got there, and he has two assists in eight games. He just needs that one goal to open the floodgates, and that’s what he is focusing on right now.”

Al-Khaldiya, second in the Bahraini Premier League after six matches, face Al Wahda on Wednesday at 8.15 pm SA time. If Maswanganyi is in the squad, his manager’s point will be made.

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