DURBAN – Benni McCarthy has opened up about the departure of Bafana Bafana international Ayanda Patosi.
Patosi left Cape Town City last month to join Estenghlal of Iran in a move that caught many in the football fraternity by surprise.
Patosi was an imperial figure for City last season. He encountered some weight issues but when he overcame them, Patosi was a difficult customer to stop. McCarthy said that they couldn’t stand in his way.
“If I had 40 players, I don’t mind losing (him) but we are a team that doesn’t stand in a player’s way. It was a great opportunity for Pato to go to Asia.
“We said that we are a team that wants to improve players. We want to grow them and if an opportunity comes from a foreign club, and the player is happy to go and can make a decent living for himself (let him go). If I was told that I can’t go to Iran and the money that I will earn there (is better), I will put up a fight,” McCarthy said.
Patosi joined City in 2017 from Belgian outfit, Lokeren. He captured the MTN8 during his stint with City.
“It was not easy to convince the player to try and stay. When you (are) going to earn two or three times as much money than what you are earning here now (why hold on to a player). We don’t hold players’ careers back,” McCarthy said.
McCarthy: We are a team that doesn’t stand in a player’s way. It was a great opportunity for Pato to go to Asia. Photo: Shaun Roy/BackpagePix
McCarthy has made it clear that City will be doing business when the season ends and the transfer market reopens in June.
“We will be able to replace him (Patosi) with quality. There are a few games left. It is not too long for the season to end.
In the new season, we will definitely go into the market and see which top European players want to come back to Africa with experience,” McCarthy said.