If French offers falls through, could Tau come home?
It remains to be see if any local offers could meet the requirements of Al Ahly to see Bafana star Percy Tau return to South Africa.
Increasingly, speculation has suggested Al Ahly are set to cut ties with Tau following the exit of Pitso Mosimane and his successor Ricardo Soares. Other rumours implied that the club’s board had grown frustrated by Tau’s injury record and had been looking to offload him ahead of the 2022/23 season.
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It’s since been confirmed that Tau’s former coach Luka Elsner, who tried to sign him in 2019, is looking to lure the South African on a loan deal with French Ligue 2 club Le Havre for the 2022/23 season.
The popular South African player previously worked with Elsner at Belgian club Royal Union Saint Galloise.
This has now been confirmed, although it remains to be seen if the deal gets across the line considering that the French transfer window closes on Thursday at midnight.
There is talk that this could be the only concrete offer for Tau’s services that has come in over the last few months, and it still remains to be seen if something concrete materialises if his exit from Al Ahly is eventually confirmed.
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The desire of Al Ahly to part ways with Tau was recently highlighted by journalist Fathallah Zidane on ONTime Sports, with the reporter also dropping the bombshell that it was Orlando Pirates who were possibly keen on bringing the Bafana player to Soweto.
That talk has since quietened down, while there hasn’t been much to suggest that Kaizer Chiefs are in the running for Tau’s services.
Meanwhile, Mamelodi Sundowns coach Rulani Mokwena has said that if Tau wanted to return to South Africa that they’d be open to “exploring” this possibility.
“He’s my son. My son knows that his father loves him and we come a long way,” Mokwena said on Marawa Sports Worldwide.
“And if there is a chance to return to SA, then, like with Bongani Zungu [who returned from France and rejoined Sundowns], that [Tau rejoining Downs] would be something we would explore for sure.”
Meanwhile, Elsner has said they have spoken with Al Ahly and tabled an offer, but the deal may not be enough to satisfy Al Ahy.
“The deal is not easy at all, due to his lack of time before the end of the summer transfer market [closes] and negotiations with Al Ahly [are ongoing],” Elsner told Btolat.
“We worked together for a season in Belgium, Percy is a very great player, I loved working with him and I want it to be repeated with Le Havre.”
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Tau has been linked to other clubs
Recent reports suggest that Anderlecht may have shown interest in re-signing Tau, with the talented playmaker having previously spent a season on loan with the Belgian outfit from Brighton & Hove Albion.
According to Egyptian news website and television channel Sada El-Balad, the Belgians had tabled on an offer of USD 2 million (approx. R33,38 million) for Tau. However, some rumours suggest Al Ahly’s evaluation is double that amount.
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