Golden Arrows coach Manqoba Mngqithi has revealed his past interest in signing Velemseni Ndwandwe and Knox Mutizwa for Mamelodi Sundowns.

Both Ndwandwe and Mutizwa played pivotal roles in Arrows’ 2-1 victory over Kaizer Chiefs in the Betway Premiership match at Moses Mabhida Stadium on Saturday, with Mutizwa scoring the decisive goal.

While Ndwandwe did not score, he played a crucial role in the attack, nearly setting up Nduduzo Sibiya early in the match.

“I rate Ndwandwe very highly,” stated Mngqithi. “In my opinion, he could easily play for any top team in the country, and it is not something that I only see now that I’m working for Golden Arrows. 

“If you can speak to him, he knows how much I wanted to have him around. But unfortunately, at times these things don’t happen the way you want. 

“I believe he is a national team material, and I would try my best to also speak to Hugo Broos (Bafana Bafana coach) to just to look at him because I honestly think he is on the class of his own. 

“He is strong defensively, very powerful offensively. If you saw the first chance where he played the ball to Sibiya, that was very difficult pass and that could have easily created a goal in the early stages of the game. 

“For me he is an exceptionally gifted player, and I have used him in different roles. Against Mamelodi Sundowns, I used him to take care of Lucas Ribeiro Costa from the half spaces and he dealt with him very well.  

“The game against Polokwane City, we used him on the side of Oswin Appollis, and he dealt with him very well. In fact, even against Magesi (when we lost), it was a big loss for me not to have him. 

“I think he is a very good football player. I rate him very high.”  

Mutizwa, who joined Arrows from Bidvest Wits in 2016, was instrumental in both of Arrows’ goals. The 31-year-old is Arrows’ all-time leading scorer with 63 goals and 15 assists in 228 appearances.

“He is another boy I have always been fond of,” said Mngqithi.  

“If I can tell you a secret, there was a striker that I signed (at Sundowns). If I could not sign that striker in another team, I would have signed Knox, because he was number two in my list of strikers, I thought are good enough to cause problems.  

“But I also don’t think he believes in himself as much as I do. Sometimes he commits elementary mistakes that are not for his level. He can commit an elementary mistake now and give you a well-class situation immediately after that. 

“I was talking to the coaches now that we have won the game but, I’m still having this element of unhappiness because I just feel we were too wasteful.” 

Mngqithi added, “Knox is a better striker than the so-called big strikers.”

Mutizwa’s goal marked his seventh in 16 matches against Chiefs, with a record of six wins, six losses, and four draws.

Despite the victory, Arrows remain 10th in the Betway Premiership table with 27 points from 20 matches.