When the late Emmanuel 'Scara' Ngobese and Junior Khanye almost signed with Mamelodi Sundowns – the former Kaizer Chiefs star remembers.
Khanye had just returned from a spell in KwaZulu-Natal with Maritzburg United in 2009 when former Chiefs coach, the late Ted Dumitru – who was the technical director at Sundowns at the time – showed interest in the Daveyton-born player, along with Ngobese who had also returned from a spell in KZN with Thanda Royal Zulu.
Read: 'This Thing Has Had A Negative Impact…'
"You must remember that Scara Ngobese and I almost signed with Sundowns at the same time. That was after I returned from Maritzburg United. I had been signed on a one-year contract plus an option to renew at Maritzburg but Ted (Dumitru) wanted to sign me for Sundowns. He also wanted Scara and we trained with the team for three months on a special training programme. Scara was coming from Thanda Royal Zulu," Khanye tells the Siya crew.
Read: Pirates' Motshwari Opens Up…
"Ted was the technical director of Sundowns. It looked like a done deal as we were in Chloorkop for three months and training. But shortly after Hristo Stoichkov joined Sundowns, Ted was released and our deal collapsed. The deal collapsed at the last minute. I remember we had already been told to bring our IDs so we could sign on the day the club decided to part ways with Ted and the deal collapsed. Ted knew us from Chiefs, so it wasn't a trial," he adds.
