Kaizer Chiefs winger Keagan Dolly has jokingly said Lionel Messi decided to sign for French giants Paris Saint-Germain after he got wind that the South African had left Montpellier SC.
Dolly signed for Chiefs in July following the expiry of his Montpellier contract and his Ligue 1 departure coincided with Messi’s arrival at PSG from Barcelona.
The Amakhosi star idolises the Argentina captain and is nicknamed the ‘South African Messi'.
“That’s a bit of something else, you know Messi is a special player,” Dolly told Thomas Mlambo on Ultimate Sports Show as per iDiski Times.
“I have always looked up to a player like that, I’ve always tried to learn from him, and I’m just trying my best.”
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“Unfortunately, when I landed in South Africa he went there, and I think he heard that I left, so he could sign [laughs].”
Before joining Chiefs, Dolly was linked with a move to Al Ahly to reunite with Pitso Mosimane who coached him at Mamelodi Sundowns.
But the forward opted to settle at Naturena where he quickly established himself as Amakhosi’s star player.
He has featured in eight Premier Soccer League games, scoring three goals and making as many assists.
His form has resulted in him making a return to the Bafana Bafana squad for the first time since Hugo Broos was appointed South Africa coach.
When he returned home from France, Dolly was battling fitness issues but he has managed to overcome and his former coach at Cape Town Spurs, Muhsin Ertugral, is not surprised at how the forward has transformed himself,
“Nothing surprising there with Keagan because he is just doing justice to his talents and the way I have always known him,” Ertugral told KickOff.
“People, clubs and coaches have to understand that when a player comes back from Europe it is a different game here in South Africa, so a player always needs time to adapt. You can see that step by step he is getting back to the quality and the most important expectation.
“He has now come back to a great club and there is nothing wrong with that. Like you can see already he has adjusted to that and for me what also matters is that he takes a major role in the national team.”
Dolly is expected to pick up from where he left off when Chiefs resume league business by hosting Stellenbosch on Tuesday.