Buchanan spent two fruitless years at Naturena, where he made just 10 appearances for Amakhosi, before the club announced his exit last week.
The SuperSport United academy graduate has since been invited for an assessment at Nedbank Cup runners-up Maritzburg United, and sees it as an opportunity to redeem himself after a prolonged period of inactivity.
“I believe leaving Chiefs could turn out to be a blessing. There’s a lot I can still do. I’m not the oldest player around – I just turned 27 [in April],” he adds.
“And the most important thing is I know what I can do. I’ve proven it before in the PSL, so it’s not like I have a mental block or questioning whether I’m good enough.
“So, to leave is a good thing because the coach and the team that believes in me will get the quality I know I have, and that I’ve shown before.
“I don’t mind going for assessments, I don’t have an ego where I need to question, ‘Why must I go for assessment, I’m Keagan …’
“If an assessment is required of me, I’ll go and show why I deserve to play, and that I’m not injured. I don’t look at it in a negative way, or worry what people will say.”
Reports have often suggested his limited game-time at The Glamour Boys was down to injuries, but Buchanan has since refuted such claims and has learnt from his experience.
“I haven’t been injury-prone, I haven’t had a single injury since the beginning of last season and I can prove it. I’m strong and I’m physically fit, so I just need to get an opportunity,” he says.
“There’s plenty of lessons I take with me now, like I seldomly spent time on the bench before, let alone out of the matchday squad, so that experience made me mentally strong.
“While going through such an experience it’s easy to let yourself go and lose the plot, or sometimes even go into a state of depression, but I’ve always remained happy and trained well.”