Mamelodi Sundowns captain Themba Zwane has revealed that Orlando Pirates were interested in him before joining Masandawana.
The 36-year-old playmaker joined the Brazilians in 2011 and has since made over 450 appearances for the Tshwane giants. During his 15 years at the club, he scored 80 goals ad won a total of 18 trophies.
Speaking on PitchSide, Zwane recalled how he joined Sundowns.
“I remember that week after playing Philly’s Games, maybe two weeks later, they called a national U23 camp, I went for the squad and when I was there I got a call from my Vardos boss, Sinky Mnisi, he was like ey, Sundowns are really interested, they are serious,” he said.
“But he never told me about Pirates, only about Sundowns, so I’m so excited about this, I said ‘for me, any time I can sign any time’, okay so I left the camp to sign for Sundowns – when I got there, it was just in and out,” Zwane added.
Mshishi said he was just happy to have signed for Sundowns and didn’t care what the contract entailed.
“I got there, there was a contract, everything was sorted, I just went and signed and I was so happy, I didn’t even look what was in the contract because I trusted Bra Sinky, because he was the one who took me there.
“I was just excited, I found out later that Pirates was interested but I already signed and never looked back. I thank God for the decision and being at Sundowns.”
Could Zwane have chosen Sundowns over Pirates?
Having made 450 appearances for Masandawana, Mshishi is one of the greatest PSL players. He struggled to establish himself in the first team until 2015 when he became one of the club’s most important players.
Had Zwane joined Pirates, he would have competed with the likes of Oupa Manyisa and Andile Jali in the middle of the park during their treble-winning days.