JOHANNESBURG – Shortly after Percy Tau was crowned the 2017-18 Footballer of the Season last night, his Mamelodi Sundown coach Pitso Mosimane revealed that the club’s talisman was on the verge of moving abroad.
“His situation is going to be very difficult for us. We have (English) Premier League teams also asking,” Mosimane, the winner of the Coach of the Season award, said.
“And we have been talking about going to the top five leagues for him – not to go to Denmark or Sweden. What is he going to do there?
We have been talking about Ligue 1 in France, Serie A (Italy), Bundesliga (Germany), all the big ones. La Liga (Spain) and now EPL has knocked on the door.”
The coach said the Nelson Mandela Centenary clash between the Brazilians and Spanish giants Barcelona two weeks ago at the FNB Stadium may have also contributed to Tau being noticed by the world’s top scouts.
“I think that gave everyone an opportunity, and the way he has played this season as well plays a role. My opinion, I think he must go.
"Let us have a player in the EPL because we’ve got nobody now. He has done well. What else can he do for us? Let’s see him week in week out and let’s judge him there.
I think we want to know if he is the real deal or not. So let him go,” Mosimane insisted.
Tau is not the only player whose future at Sundowns is uncertain, although the coach is in the loop with regards to his next move. There is still no end to the Khama Billiat saga, the player having told the club a while back that he would not be staying beyond the end of the 2017-18 campaign.
He will be a free agent at the end of next month and may have played his final game for Sundowns a week ago in the 2-2 draw against Horoya of Guinea in the CAF Champions League group stages.
“We could lose two prominent players in the team,” the coach said. “I still don’t know what the issues are there because if I did I would tell you (journalists).”
Reports have linked Billiat, 27, with a move to Qarabag in Azerbaijan and that’s about it. The player boarded a flight to an unknown location yesterday, which will no doubt fuel more speculation over his future.
@superjourno
IOL Sport