Kaizer Chiefs' Manyama on how instability at Konyaspor led to his nightmare in Turkey

Kaizer Chiefs midfielder Lebogang Manyama says he did not come back to South Africa "with a heavy heart" following his failed spell at Turkish Super Lig side Konyaspor.

After being crowned the 2016/17 Premier Soccer League (PSL) Footballer of the Year, Manyama got an opportunity to play overseas where he spent a season.

But it did not turn out to be his ideal European sojourn after managing just 10 games across all competitions and scoring two goals.

Manyama insists that he is "a very competitive player" who would have played his best football had Konyaspor been patient with their coaches.

"They [Konyaspor] are struggling because they don’t mind changing the whole staff and bringing new coaches and new players because of a few bad results," said Manyama as per Times Live.

“The coach left‚ the second coach came in with his own players and there were some players he coached before who he found at the club that were now starting to play. You know how football is – there’s always rotation if these changes come.

“As to how it didn’t work out for me‚ I don’t know. Even if you ask any Chiefs player they will tell you I’m a very competitive player at training. I don’t like even losing at training so I thought to myself‚ ‘I’m training very well’‚ way better than some of the other players who had been there for a long time.

“I trained very well‚ pushed myself and tried to get a spot. It didn’t come. I just got minutes here and there and did very well. I thought to myself I’ll probably get more chances and come the weekend I spent 90 minutes on the bench. Fine‚ I took it and I continued."

Manyama says he was deregistered for the second half of the season which made coach Sergen Yalcin unable to hand him playing time after arriving as the club's third coach that season towards the end of the term.

Manyama was out of the squad not long after he had grabbed a brace and provided an assist in a 3-0 Turkish Cup victory over Batman Petrolspor.

With hopes that Yalcin would include him in his plans for the following season, the coach was fired during the off-season despite saving the club from relegation.

“Now I’m sitting with the situation where I don’t know who’s going to coach and I haven’t been playing for six months," said Manyama.

“I was sure as hell that somebody would come there and would not even think of me. So when it was preseason time I asked my guy from Turkey to let me go. Ja‚ we came to a conclusion and they finally gave me my clearance and I came to Chiefs.

"But I didn’t come with a heavy heart. I accepted that things didn’t work out and I moved on from it. So I think that’s why I’m where I am today.”

Barcelona and Inter Milan legend Samuel Eto'o was Manyama's teammate at Konyaspor.

Arriving at Chiefs in August 2018, the 29-year-old was met with another difficult season in which a spate of injuries limited his game time.

But he has picked himself up this term in which he is being mentioned as a serious contender for the Footballer of the Season award.