I almost joined Mamelodi Sundowns, reveals Kanyenda
Former Jomo Cosmos striker Essau Kanyenda says he might have played for Mamelodi Sundowns had he not moved abroad and that if his then boss Jomo Sono allowed the deal to happen.
Esau Kanyenda (Samuel Shivambu/BackpagePix)
Kanyenda recalls the 2001/02 season with Ezenkosi, where he was voted the Best Player and Top Goal-scorer of the Coca-Cola Tournament.
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The former Malawian international says upon receiving his goal-scorer award from Patrice Motsepe, the South African mining billionaire told Kanyenda that he was in the process of buying a team and wanted to sign him.
“I think if I didn’t go overseas I would have probably joined Sundowns. It was Mr Motsepe who gave me the top goal-scorer award and I remember he said to me he is buying a team and wants me in that team. But I really don’t know if Jomo would have been comfortable with me joining Sundowns because at that point Jomo was the one who was deciding everything and I was only a player,” said Kanyenda.
“Another thing is that I couldn’t make decisions for myself because I was still young, so I was under the guidance of Jomo.”
Motsepe went on to buy 51% of shares for Downs in 2003 before buying the remaining 49%.
However, Kanyenda moved to Russia in 2003 where he played for Rostov FC.
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