With former Orlando Pirates defender Marshall Munetsi playing in the English Premier League, Eric Tinkler has suggested why South African players struggle to reach those heights.
Munetsi got his biggest breakthrough of his career in January after he was signed by Wolverhampton Wanderers from French side Stade Reims.
The Zimbabwean joined Reims from Pirates in 2019 and there has been discussions on why South African players don't get to make such moves often.
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After Lyle Foster got relegated with Burnley, there is no other South African player representing the country in the EPL.
According to Sekhukhune United coach Tinkler, who also coached the Buccaneers, the reason why SA players don't make it abroad in numbers is the mentality.
"It's funny I spoke to Marc Van Heerden, he obviously played at Pirates with Munetsi. Marc told me the mentality that the boy had, he didn't see Pirates as the pinnacle of his career," Tinkler said 947's MSW.
"He just saw Pirates as part of his journey to get into Europe and that has always been his dream and his ideal, to push on and make it in Europe, now he finds himself at Wolves.
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"I think sometimes for South African players it's a lot easier to see Pirates, Chiefs, Sundowns as the pinnacle of their careers and it's very rare to see players taking the step into Europe from big clubs in South Africa. I think there's a wrong mentality in some of the youth players, not seeing beyond the big three, not really setting their targets high enough," the former Cape Town City coach added.
Munetsi has transitioned from being a defender at Pirates, to midfielder at Reims and is now being played as a striker at Wolves.