Following allegations that PSL clubs don't want to sell their best players to Kaizer Chiefs, Cape Town City Chairman John Comitis has contradicted Khanyisa Mayo's agent on Amakhosi's interest.
Chiefs head coach Nasreddine Nabi made it clear, in an interview with SuperSport TV a few weeks ago, that one of their challenges in signing players locally is that PSL teams don't want to sell to them.
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The club was interested in signing former Sekhukhune United winger Elias Mokwana but had their bid rejected and instead Babina Noko made a deal with Esperance de Tunis.
Amakhosi were understood to have also made bids for Oswin Appollis of Polokwane City. However, the latter are reportedly close to agreeing a transfer with Esperance as well.
Mayo's agent, Basia Michaels, revealed in an interview on Metro FM, that Chiefs definitely were interested in the player but that they were "seconds too late" compared to an offer agreed to by City from Algerian side CR Belouizdad.
Michaels emphasised it was not about the money.
However, Comitis has suggested that there were no local offers for the 25-year-old before Belouizdad made their offer, a statement that would add fuel to allegations that PSL clubs deal differently when it comes with the Soweto giants.
"You know when you have a top goal scorer for two seasons in a row or nearly there, it's one of the challenges of South African players to have two seasons in a row where they play well. There's not many that keep doing that. That's why you see clubs like [Mamelodi] Sundowns, where they have continuous performers. That's why they have a good team," he explained on Metro FM.
"Mayo has achieved two seasons back-to-back, so he was quite sought-after and we had to find the right deal for him and we were happy with the transfer amount and we did the deal.
"No, at the time there wasn't [an offer locally]," Comitis said when asked if there were local offers.
"If you noticed, Mayo had lost his place in the national team. His goals ran dry in the last seven games. So, it took some time and some convincing for an offshore entity to see past that. We had to compromise somewhat, but the deal was very good for Mayo as well, so we couldn't get in his way."
The Mthatha-born attacker was not included in Belouizdad's first official game of the season, in the CAF Champions League first preliminary round first leg, where they beat AC Leopards 2-0 away.
Nor has he been selected in Bafana Bafana's preliminary squad for the 2025 AFCON qualifier fixtures against Uganda and South Sudan.