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Robson Sharuko Senior Sports Editor
THE confirmation of Percy Tau’s transfer to English Premiership side Brighton and Hove Albion yesterday triggered debate on the domestic football front as focus once again turned to how Khama Billiat ended up at Kaizer Chiefs.

Billiat and Tau featured for Mamelodi Sundowns and helped the Brazilians to their maiden triumph in the CAF Champions League two years ago, when the Pretoria side defeated Egyptian powerhouse Zamalek in the final.

The Zimbabwe international forward played a key role in that success story and was named among the top three football stars based in Africa for that season.

His Sundowns teammate, Denis Onyago, won the top gong for the best player plying his trade on the continent, with Billiat coming second in the vote.

Billiat also swept the board at the end-of-season South African football awards in 2016 when he was named Footballer of the Season, Players’ Player of the Season, Midfielder of the Season and the Kick-Off Footballer of the Season.

Expectations were high Billiat would move to Europe with many influential voices in the game on the continent urging him to take his talents to the arena where the best players in the world showcase their stuff.

Ghanaian football legend Sammy Kuffour, who won the UEFA Champions League with German giants Bayern Munich, said Billiat was primed for a move to Europe.

This followed the Zimbabwean forward’s impressive show during the Warriors opening 2017 AFCON group game against Algeria in Gabon.

“I think it’s a very long time that I have seen such a player on the African continent. Who (else) can you imagine? Maybe Sadio Mane,’’ said Kuffour who was analysing the game for SuperSport TV.

“But it’s very difficult to describe such a player because he’s got everything. You see the dribbling and today it wasn’t just one-on-one with the goalkeeper and every time that he does something you got to pay service.

“So, it tells me that maybe the likes of Okocha, the likes of, maybe, Samuel Eto’ or whoever Abedi Pele, George Weah that comes to mind, but this guy can be another level.

“If he really wants it, I think he has to move to Europe. It will be very disappointing for the African continent not to see him play (in Europe), but in terms of his career, the way he is at and the way he is just going at 26 years, I think he needs to move into Europe.

“He is amazing to watch. For me being a defender it’s going to be difficult to play against this one because he is too small.

“You don’t know what he is going to do with the ball. He has everything. For me I just love to see him going outside for his future.’’

Warriors captain, Knowledge Musona, who moved to Europe seven years ago, also urged his national teammate to take his talents to that continent.

“I wish this time he will go somewhere else to better his football, where the professionalism level is higher. I hope that he leaves South Africa and goes to a better club in Europe, but I am very happy for him,” Musona told The Herald.

But, for all the reports linking him with a move to Europe after he let his contract run out at Sundowns, Billiat surprised many when he signed for Kaizer Chiefs on a three-year deal last month.

This means he is likely to be 30, and past his prime, by the time his Chiefs contract — where he is reported to be the highest paid player in South Africa — runs out and chance of him moving to Europe would have diminished unless a suitor can come along this season. With Tau being unveiled as a Brighton and Hove Albion player yesterday, the focus inevitably fell again on Billiat’s decision to move to Chiefs instead of a crack in Europe.

Zimbabwe has not had a player in the English Premiership since Tendayi Darikwa, who was born in England to Zimbabwean parents and currently holds a British passport, left Burnley for Championship side Nottingham Forest last July.

The last Zimbabwe-born footballer to play in the English Premiership was former Warriors skipper Benjani Mwaruwari when he featured for Manchester City in 2010.

Yesterday questions were, inevitably, being asked within the Zimbabwean football community.

Is Billiat not good enough to have made the grade in England to such an extent he could not even sign for a Championship side when Tau can complete a move to a Premiership team?

Is the gap in quality between Billiat and Tau such a big one that the South African can make the grade at an English Premiership side, while the Zimbabwean forward remains stuck in Super Diski?

Would Billiat have fought for a divorce from Sundowns, the way Tau did by boycotting pre-season training once it became clear Brighton and Hove Albion were interested in his services — given the obvious benefits his career stands to get from such a move — or the Zimbabwean and his supporting staff have chosen to remain hostages to that comfort zone of Super Diski?

Does this possibly suggest that Tau has better agents, who can move mountains to ensure their client benefits from a move to Europe, while Billiat’s management probably didn’t have the same influence to complete such a move?

The statistics don’t make good reading for Billiat too.

The Zimbabwean is one of the few players to win the Footballer of the Season in South Africa and still remain in Super Diski the following campaign.

Tefu Mashamaite left South Africa after winning the award, before returning to Super Diski, while Thulani Serero and Siyabonga Nomvethe all played in Europe.

Billiat is the only player, who is not a goalkeeper, who has been voted the cream of those playing in Africa who hasn’t moved to play outside the continent in the past few years.

Mbwanna Samatta went to Belgium, Firmon Mubele went to France, Mohamed Aboutrika went to the United Arab Emirates, Ahmed Hassan went to Turkey and Belgium while Oussama Darragi went to Switzerland.