Johannesburg – In a dramatic turn of events, the on, off and on again transfer of Brighton & Hove Albion forward Percy Tau to team up with his former Mamelodi Sundowns coach Pitso Mosimane at African champions Al Ahly is, wait for it, on again.
Tau is, once again, set to leave the Seagulls and link up with Mosimane at Egyptian giants Al Ahly as the Red Eagles’ decorated coach has made no secret the fact that he wanted to reunite with Tau, with whom he worked with for five years at the Brazilians before his ground-breaking move from Downs to Brighton in 2018.
The treatment meted out to Tau, who is not getting much game time under his coach Graham Potter at English Premier League club, has been cited in numerous reports as the main reason the player wants out.
We all know Tau is an action man, he loves his football to an extent he would loathe a coach relegating him to the bench for no apparent reason, barring only when he is injured.
As much as Tau, 27, is quiet, there is, however, more talk on the part of Potter as he comes up with flimsy excuses every time he is cornered to give reasons why he is not fielding Tau, one of South Africa’s best imports to the English top-flight in recent years.
Tau is best known for his craving for match action, the more he is in action, the more he thrives to achieve, but with Potter at the helm at Brighton, his bright future looks doomed, more so after returning from a loan spell, first with Club Brugge, then with Anderlecht in Belgium following the SA star securing a work permit in January to play in England.
The same Potter denied the workaholic striker a chance to represent his country at the Olympics when he was selected by Olympics football team coach David Notoane as one of the three overage players eligible to play at the Tokyo Games.
Potter’s decision denied Tau the opportunity to shine on what is one of the world’s biggest stages.
“Personal reasons,” Potter would say, and not elaborate when quizzed about Tau’s absence on the team sheet in Brighton’s opening match of the EPL season, or why he’s even not among the subs when he’s fit enough to start, even after the left-footed attacker scored in Brighton’s 3-1 victory in a pre-season game against Luton Town.
Breaking News: Tau is in South Africa to wrap up his business back home before jetting out to rekindle his relationship with Mosimane, the man who made him a household name as the country’s most feared goal-getter.
It is a given that Tau has found starts hard to come by at Brighton, spending the second half of last season warming the bench.
Mosimane has, it seems, finally persuaded his boss to break the bank by raising his wages to about R18-million a season. All I can say is, go for it, “Lion of Judah”, age is still on your side to return to Europe.
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