Since Khanyisa Mayo's agent, Basia Michaels recently told the local media that Kaizer Chiefs were slow in their movement to sign the former Cape Town City striker, the Siya crew investigates what happened behind the scenes.
Mayo ended up joining Algerian club CR Belouizdad, and contrary to Michaels' statement, Kickoff reported City chairman John Comitis providing a contrasting view.
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Comitis stated that at the time there was no local offer, though Michaels had said before that Chiefs' offer had come in late.Nevertheless, Amakhosi were heavily linked to the son of former Kaizer Chiefs striker Patrick Mayo, and Soccer Laduma takes a look at why there are contrasting reports on the matter.
Now, Siya sources at the club have indicated that the main reason for the delay in signing Mayo Jr. could have been financial and that he was not coach Nasreddine Nabi's first-choice striker on the wanted list.
Insiders privy to information added how Amakhosi were linked to the likes of Fiston Mayele as reported by the Siya crew.
"I don't think anyone dropped the ball at Chiefs regarding Khanyisa Mayo. Yes, last season the interest was very high from the other coaches and that's when the club really wanted to sign him. But after the club had agreed terms with coach Nabi, then the priorities in terms of which strikers he wanted changed and that's why the interest in Mayo died down," said the Siya source.
"No one dropped the ball. Chiefs were not slow in their approach. Everything they did was intentional as the coach had indicated which strikers he wanted and Mayo was not on that list this time around. That's how things unfolded for Mayo not to end up at Chiefs this season," the source added.
A second source stated that that last season, it was all about the money Cape Town City were demanding for Mayo and that had turned Chiefs off from the potential deal, as there were also interest from Yanga SC of Tanzania as well as Mamelodi Sundowns locally.
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"He was overpriced when there was too much interest in him from other clubs as well last season when coaches like Molefi Ntseki wanted him and management was ready to bring him in. That time it was the money issue and not that they were dragging their legs. So, seriously speaking, Chiefs didn't drop the ball as the Sporting Director has made sure that together with the board and the rest of management they get most of the players that the coach wanted this season. Now, they are working on getting one more striker and a left back that the coach wants then they will have done 100% work," the second source stated.
Soccer Laduma contacted Chiefs for comment, but there was no response at the time of preparing this story.
The Siya crew also contacted Mayo's agent, Michaels to underline her own experience with Chiefs and her player.
"Unfortunately we had an offer from CRB that we had signed moments before the Chiefs' offer came in," Michaels told Soccer Laduma, which is consistent with what she had initially stated on radio to Metro FM.
