Nabi On Khanyisa Mayo’s Adaptation

Kaizer Chiefs coach Nasreddine Nabi believes new signing Khanyisa Mayo will have no trouble adapting to life at the club.

Nabi, along with sporting director Kaizer Motaung Jr., revealed that Chiefs had been interested in signing Mayo even before he joined Algerian side CR Belouizdad last season.

Mayo’s Return to South Africa

Mayo, whose father Patrick Mayo also played for the club, recently terminated his contract with Belouizdad, which was originally set to run until 2027.

The 27-year-old forward was deemed surplus to requirements by the Algerian club under former TS Galaxy coach Sead Ramovic, despite scoring six goals and providing one assist in 41 matches.

By joining Chiefs, Mayo follows in the footsteps of several other players whose fathers also wore the famous gold and black jersey.

This distinguished list includes Chairman Dr. Kaizer Motaung and Kaizer Motaung Jr., Eliakim Khumalo and Doctor Khumalo, Joseph Mkhonza and Siphiwe Mkhonza, and Fabian McCarthy and Aden McCarthy.

Nabi praised Mayo’s experience and his personal connection to the club. “The club was working to get him from Cape Town City, but the deal didn’t materialize,” Nabi said.

“He went to Algeria, but he is a boy that is very young, and his family is a Khosi fan. When he came here, he feels this is an opportunity of his life and there is no price for that.”

The coach is confident that Mayo’s past experiences with high-pressure teams will aid his transition. “You know that he is going to do everything he can and as well he has an experience,” Nabi added.

“He has gone through teams that have a lot of pressure where he was, and we believe that adaptation is going to be very quickly. We are hopeful that he is going to bring us a different style of play.”

It remains to be seen whether Mayo will feature in Chiefs’ upcoming top-of-the-table clash against Sekhukhune United at FNB Stadium on Tuesday [19:30].

The winner of the match will move to the top of the league standings, displacing Mamelodi Sundowns, who currently hold the top spot.