It came down to the lure of playing in Europe and it’s financial benefits for Knowledge Musona, coach Pitso Mosimane has revealed.
The Mamelodi Sundowns coach had earlier in the month talked about his admiration of the former Kaizer Chiefs forward as he looked to beef up his attack before the January window closes next week Friday.
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With Musona having since opted to join KAS Eupen in the Belgian league, on loan from Anderlecht, Mosimane confirmed that the Brazilians made a desperate attempt to sign the Zimbabwean, which means they were prepared to offload one of their foreign players to make room for a new face.
“I can confirm to you that we wanted Musona and he decided to go to Aspire (who own Eupen) and we can’t match the Qatar offer, but it is okay,” the coach told reporters.
Musona had been frustrated by a lack of game-time at Anderlecht and his agent Mike Makaab had told the Siya crew that the player was keen on a move elsewhere before the transfer deadline this month.
While Sundowns were interested, Makaab had maintained that the striker’s first option was to find a club in Europe. Mosimane hopes his newest recruit this season recovers quickly to help them in both continental and domestic matches.
“We hope Mauricio comes back and recovers because Ali (Meza) was able to recover. The problem is that we never had Mauricio all the time and that makes up wobble. So I don’t know if we will take him to Luanda (for a CAF Champions League fixtures), but if we do it will be to train. If we had him against Pirates it could have been a different story and I can also say that about the SuperSport game because he is a powerful guy. I hope they don’t get injured again,” said Mosimane.
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