Former Jomo Cosmos striker Essau Kanyenda has recalled how he almost joined Mamelodi Sundowns when Patrice Motsepe was in the process of buying a stake in the club.
Kanyenda was one of the top PSL strikers at the end of the 2001/02 season as he walked away with two Coca Cola Cup accolades at the PSL awards.
And the former Malawi international revealed Motsepe told him he was buying a team, and that he wanted him to be part of that team.
Motsepe got involved in football in 2004 when he bought shares at Sundowns before later becoming the sole owner of the club.
"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," Kanyenda told Phakaaathi.
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However, Kanyenda isn't too sure if Jomo Sono would have allowed him to leave Cosmos for the Brazilians at the time because he was in charge of everything, including player transfers.
"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.
Kanyenda, who moved to Russia a year after his 'chat' with Motsepe, said another reason he believes would have prevented his potential move to the Tshwane giants was that he was still very young and inexperienced.
"Another thing is that I couldn’t make decisions for myself because I was still young, so I was under the guidance of Jomo," he added.
The now 37-year-old spent the better part of his career in Europe soon after leaving Ezenkosi.
He returned to the country in 2012 to sign for Polokwane City whom he left after five years in 2017.
Kanyenda scored 22 goals in 99 appearances for Rise and Shine during his five-year stay in Polokwane.
Kanyenda was last on the books of Mighty Wanderers; the Malawian team he joined following his departure from Polokwane City.
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