The Union’s summer overhaul is underway, with Olwethu Makhanya and Philippe Ndinga set to depart
Makhanya is headed to Scotland's Rangers for around $4.5 million. Ndinga likely will go on loan to Belgium's Zulte Waregem. Both deals signal Jon Scheer taking charge as the Union's sporting director.
Olwethu Makhanya has got the move from the Union he wanted, and the club has a better return for him than it might have initially gotten.
The 22-year-old centerback is headed to Rangers of Glasgow, Scotland, for what a source with knowledge of the deal said is a transfer fee of around $4.5 million. There’s also a sell-on clause, so the Union would get a chunk of a future sale if there is one.
Though the move hasn’t been officially announced, Rangers manager Derek McInnes all but confirmed it on Wednesday when he said, “we’re pretty close to announcing that, so it’s safe to say that one looks good for us.”
Rangers had scouted Makhanya for a while before making a formal offer. The club had some urgency to get a deal done because Scotland’s Premiership starts its season this weekend — yes, barely two weeks after the World Cup final. Rangers visit Dundee United on Friday (3 p.m., CBS Sports Network, Paramount+) in the league opener.
“He’s coming from MLS into a different country and style of football, but we believe he has the attributes to cope with that,” McIness said. “Getting this one resolved this week, hopefully with an announcement [Wednesday] or [Thursday], would be a big step and we’d be delighted.”
Makhanya did not return to the Union after going to the World Cup with South Africa but not playing. Multiple sources said that was because of personal matters, but he also thought he had an agreement with the club to move to Europe if an offer arrived.
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There were different portrayals of what that agreement was — as in, whether the Union would take the first deal or the first good deal.
That ended up costing a team in Belgium understood to be Genk, which offered around $4 million. When the Union said no to the club to which they sold Mark McKenzie nearly six years ago, it clearly ruffled some feathers.
Now things have cooled down, and the deal with Rangers is done. Makhanya departs having played 53 games for the Union, all since the start of 2025 — and all with Bradley Carnell as manager. Though he was signed in 2023, Makhanya didn’t see the field for the first team until after Jim Curtin was fired at the end of 2024. And he hasn’t since Carnell was fired, coincidentally on the day South Africa announced its World Cup team.
Makhanya’s case for a sale now was also helped by the fact that his contract is up next year. If the Union were going to sell him (and they certainly hoped to), they had to this summer or this winter, and European teams always are more interested in summer deals. That’s part of why MLS is flipping is calendar next year.
On the club side, it definitely helps the Union that Neil Pierre has looked great since coming back from his loan to Denmark’s Lyngby. Pierre isn’t a finished product, but he has shown over the last two games that he’s ready to play in MLS. He’ll presumably stay a starter for as long as Japhet Sery Larsen is out, and we’ll see if the streak goes past that.
The Union also are heading toward a deal to send outside back Philippe Ndinga on loan to Belgian first-division club Zulte Waregem, with a pre-set option for a purchase price afterward.
It bears repeating that the player who was supposed to be Kai Wagner’s successor leaves having played 310 minutes in eight games, including four starts. Fortunately for the club’s hopes this season, Wagner wanted to come home, so he ended up succeeding himself.
These are signs of new sporting director Jon Scheer putting his stamp on the organization, two months after Ernst Tanner was pushed out of the role and Scheer had the interim tag removed.
