‘Why I did not join Kaizer Chiefs’ – Manqoba Mngqithi

Former Mamelodi Sundowns head coach Manqoba Mngqithi has revealed that Kaizer Chiefs were once interested in his services.

The 53-year-old coach said Amakhosi were serious with their offer but took time to finalise everything and that’s when Mamelodi Sundowns pounced. Having left AmaZulu in 2013, Mngqithi served as Pitso Mosimane’s assistant for seven years before he was promoted to co-coach alongside Steve Komphela and Rulani Mokwena.

Mngqithi nearly joined Kaizer Chiefs before Sundowns

In July 2024, the KZN-born mentor was promoted to head coach after Rulani Mokwena was shown the door. The 53-year-old lost two cup competitions and was sacked last week by the club management.

“I had an approach from Chiefs prior to Sundowns and I did my presentation at Chiefs and all that, and then suddenly Sundowns came when there was a slight delay at [Kaizer]Chiefs,” Mngqithi told Radio947.

“When I took that opportunity, I did not still want to check with Chiefs ‘ey, what is happening with you’, because I felt the project; Chiefs was winning, Chiefs was okay, but I felt it would be nice to be part of this environment and try to [rebuild].”

Mngqithi could have been Stuart Baxter’s assistant back in 2013 when Kaizer Chiefs had just claimed the league title. He said Sundowns snatched him despite the club’s struggles at the time.

Downs sack Mngqithi after six months

“Sundowns picked me up when I was not working, I was not employed when Sundowns gave me that opportunity,” Mngqithi said.

“I happened to get into a club when I had not won anything in seven years and then everything changed for the better. My mind was it would be nice to be among the people to bring this team back to its former glory and that’s what we did.

“At the time it looked defunct from the outside, that for seven years this club has not won anything but… part of me had this thing that you know we will end up losing good people in football, because I felt the president had invested a lot of money in Sundowns.

Last year, reports linked Manqoba Mngqithi to Kaizer Chiefs. The ex-Golden Arrows did confirm in June that he was awaiting for Sundowns to renew his contract which ultimately ended rumours of him joining Amakhosi.

Which team will Manqoba coach next?

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