Former SuperSport United and Kaizer Chiefs midfielder Lebogang Manyama has revealed why he joined SuperSport before Chiefs in a season where he was heavily linked with a move to Naturena.
Manyama was reflecting on his career that was cut short by injury last month, with IDiski Times Editor Rob Delport in edition 111 of the newspaper. The 32-year-old played for Matsatsantsa between 2013 and 2016 and eventually joined Amakhosi on his return from Turkey in 2018.
Manyama explained that the move was a dream come true for him adding that the reason for going to Pretoria before Soweto at the time, was simply because he had signed a contract with SuperSport earlier and he didn’t want to get caught in between the two clubs.
“So many people got a picture of the story of why I didn’t go to Chiefs at first and the answer, obviously now, because I’m not playing, the answer was quite simple. It’s that the contract with SuperSport was signed already in November, Manyama told iDiski Times.
“If I signed for Chiefs, I would have signed for two clubs, and it was going to be a problem for me. I knew already because it had happened to I think Papi Zothwane before, and it was all over the news, I think and I couldn’t risk that, I couldn’t do that.
“As much as I wanted to play for Chiefs, I ended up calling Bobby [Motaung] and telling him that I couldn’t but obviously, the way it came out, it came out as if I chose SuperSport over Chiefs.”
“Not to get it wrong, that SuperSport was not a move I wanted, it was a move I wanted and actually if I tell you about what happened at SuperSport, in terms of the deal, I’m also very grateful to Stan Matthews because to be quite honest, I had the most wonderful deal at SuperSport, but I was still young, I was still wild, I thought I had arrived and there were a lot of issues off the field.”
Manyama went on to admit that he has some regrets about his time with the three-time League Champions.
He also explained that he is indebted to SuperSport Chairman Stan Matthews because he had off-the-field issues that prevented him from playing at his full potential.
“I made bad decisions off the field and it’s difficult to admit such but now I can you know, and for that, I owe them a huge apology because I didn’t really play to my full potential at SuperSport because of other things.
“But I’m really grateful for the time and friends I made there all along. I still talk to the physio, the masseur I know very well, the drivers, I know them very well, the team manager, and most of the people there I knew very well, and I’m still in contact with till today”
“I’ll forever cherish the opportunity they gave me, it was one of the best days. Stan knows what it was between us. But ja, I think at SuperSport I wasted an opportunity.
“I think it’s the one club I have the most regrets with, that I didn’t fully, fully, fully, fully elevate myself in, or put a stamp on a sense of belonging.”
You can read Manyama’s full interview with Delport in edition 111 available on iDiski Times website.
