Kaizer Motaung Jr. has confirmed coach Nasreddine Nabi was keen on having former Cape Town City striker Khanyisa Mayo before his big-money transfer to Algerian outfit CR Belouizdad.
Amakhosi have been active in the transfer window, and have so far signed seven players to bolster their squad after an embarrassing 10th-place finish last season.
One of the players who they wanted to sign this season is the Bafana Bafana international Mayo.
Chiefs met City's asking price but Mayo slipped through their fingers
There have been rumors that the Glamour Boys were reluctant to meet the Citizens' valuation for the 25-year-old, but Amakhosi Sporting Director has explained how the whole situation unfolded.
“There was definitely serious interest and I think we also must credit [Mayo's agent] Basia [Michaels], for how professional she handled the whole situation. How transparent she was,” Motaung Jr told Radio2000.
“At the same time, credit to Mr. John Comitis because we had known from a couple of months already about the price-tag that was on Mayo’s head, and obviously we had gone and assessed what’s viable, does he fit into the squad?
“To be honest, Mayo was one of the names of the coach [Nabi] when the Turkey camp began. So we’d been working to see how we could make it possible. We engaged John. John was also very upfront about what the expected.
“When Basia came into the picture we made our intentions known, and I think we did just miss it by a couple of hours. Because we had reverted back and finally found a way forward to make the deal happen financially.
“I think the deal in Algeria had just been signed. [But] we met their asking price.”
The R20 million valuation was right!
Reportedly, City wanted at least R20 million for the 2022/23 joint Premier Soccer League's top scorer. Were Chiefs hesitant to sign him?
“I think for a player of Mayo’s caliber, the DNA that he holds, with that surname, I think the profile and how we wanted to set up, he’s definitely a player that would’ve made a big impact,” Motaung Jr. added.
“If you had to ask me, if it was the right value, that’s for the market to decide. But we met the price and made sure we went all out because we wanted to support the coach.
“Because the coach is clear about the kind of quality he wants.”
