Percy Tau Is One For The Future

The inevitable has happened, the hottest South African football talent might have just widened his circle of influence with his recent move to the English Premier League side, Brighton & Hove Albion. Percy Tau has penned a four year deal with the Seagulls, who are reported to have paid £2.8 million for his services, a record-fee for a South African.

A few months before today some thought the Senegalese legend, El-Hadji Diouf had gone mental. Diouf remarked that Percy Tau’s move to the big European leagues was long overdue and even went further to draw a comparison between the Witbank-born player with the likes of Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane. As the 2017/18 South African PSL season drew to a close, it becomes even clearer just how much potential the 24-year old possessed as he proved to be a special ingredient in Mamelodi Sundowns’ title-winning campaign. Tau capped off the season by winning three of the most coveted individual awards in South African football; South African Player of The Year, Players’ Player of The Season and joint-top scorer award. The move could not have come at a better time, especially since Percy had won all there was to win with Bafana BaStyle, including the CAF Champions League. This step up is actually less about him and more about his country’s progress and his role in charting it.

The Twitter community showed just how much the move means to South Africa as a people, who have been criticised for creating a haven of mediocrity by not allowing their players to seek new challenges. Even rivalries were put aside as fellow footballers and clubs took turns to congratulate Percy. Most remarkably was the top SA top-flight side, Polokwane City’s tweet, “Minus one problem! Hamba Kahle Simba (Go well, Lion).” Even the country’s top goalkeeper Itumeleng Khune who plays for a rival club in Kaizer Chiefs tweeted,

“All the very best in your new journey #KingTau @percymuzitau22 fly the SA high #ProudlySouthAfrican #GodIsGreat ”

But the journey is far from over for the speedy forward as he now follows the footsteps of the likes of Quinton Fortune who played for Manchester United, Benni McCarthy (Blackburn Rovers & West Ham United) and most recently, Steven Pienaar, who played for Everton. He might just have a whole lot more to prove given the nation’s hopes pinned on him in an ever-increasingly competitive world. Percy will have to adjust to the new surroundings, new football style, make new friends and prove his worth. He will begin his Brighton career with a loan move in the upcoming Premier League season to “get an experience of European football” and actually allow room to have his work permit finalized.

“Percy is a player we have highlighted for the future, and there is no doubting his talent, having been voted South African player of the season. Percy will go out on loan this season, play regularly and get some experience of European football. We will be watching his progress and monitoring his development over the season.” - Chris Hughton, Brighton & Hove Albion Manager

All South African eyes and many new eyes are on him now and he seems to be embracing the challenge and poised to do well.

“Going out on loan is always good to help a player develop and get better. It’s new for me to be in Europe, and I’ll get to work on myself and a few things that I need to improve...Last season was great, I got a few personal achievements, but we won the league as well, which is something that means so much to me. I’m happy to have gone down that path, but it’s over now and it’s time to make new memories.” - Percy Tau

Adjusting to life at Brighton could actually be aided by the African connection building up at the club with the arrivals of the Malian midfielder, Yves Bissouma, Nigeria’s Leon Balogun who will meet the Cameroonian, Gaetan Bong who has been at the club since 2015.

Let us know just how high you think Percy will fly the South African flag in the comment box below.

Liverpool qualify for Champions League at the expense of Chelsea

Newcastle hosted Chelsea at St James’ Park with the away team looking for a win in hope of qualifying for next season’s UEFA Champions League. Liverpool sat in 4th place with a 2-point advantage over Chelsea in 5th. A result at St James’ Park would not be enough so they hoped that Liverpool would lose against Brighton. What a complex situation that Chelsea owner Roman Abramovic is not comfortable with. The match kicked off and there was not much a difference between the two teams until Thibaut Courtois saved a rocket of a shot from Jonjo Shelvey who tried his luck 30 yards out. On the 22nd minute, Dwight Gayle scored the opener of the match from a rebound after Murphy’s effort was punched into his path by the Chelsea goalkeeper. That was the only goal of the first half in a must-win match for Chelsea who had their UEFA Champions League qualification on the line. The London side came close to scoring in the 52nd minute when Olivier Giroud connected to Ross Barkley’s cross before flicking it towards goal. The ball looked destined for goal and would have been a contender for one of the best goals of the EPL this season but Dubvraka was having none of that as he produced a fingertip save to deny the French striker. Ayoze Perez diverted in Shelvey’s shot on the 58th minute to make it 2-0 to Newcastle. The Spanish striker scored the third and final goal of the match from a pass by Florian Lejeune. This victory means that Chelsea will join Arsenal in the UEFA Europa League tournament next season.

In other news, Mo Salah broke the record of goals scored in 38-matches league. He converted his 32nd English Premier League goal in Liverpool’s 4-0 win against Brighton which means that he has scored more than EPL Legends like Shearer, Ronaldo, Van Persie, Van Nistelrooy etc. The African player has had an outstanding season having led his team to the UEFA Champions League final which will be played against Real Madrid on the 26th of May. His goal also managed to seal Liverpool’s participation in the UEFA Champions League for next season. The player walks home with the English Premier League Golden Boot. What an awesome season he has had.