At R50m, was Tau SA’s most expensive export?
Deals for players like Benni, Pienaar actually cost more
Mamelodi Sundowns earned £2.8-million (R50-million) for Percy Tau’s recent move to English club Brighton Hove & Albion, but there have been other expensive SA exports.
While Tau’s transfer ranks as the most expensive transaction involving a PSL side and a foreign club, there are other local players who have cost more moving between European clubs over the years.
Sowetan looks at some of the biggest transfers involving South African players:
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Benni McCarthy (Celta Vigo to Porto, €6-million)
Bafana Bafana’s all-time leading goalscorer with 31 goals cost Portuguese side Porto €6million (R94-million) when he moved from the Spanish club in 1999.
McCarthy moved at the time when the rand/dollar exchange rate was still substantially lower (R6.40 compared to R15.67 today).
So his transfer was R38-million 19 years ago, but over R90million with the latest exchange rate. It was money wellspent for Porto, whom McCarthy helped win the Uefa Champions League in 2004.
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Steven Pienaar (Borussia to Everton, €4.5-million)
In rand terms, “Schillo’s” move reportedly cost Everton R70million when he joined from Germany’s Borussia Dortmund a decade ago. In between a spell at Tottenham Hotspur, he went on to play 210 matches for the Toffees, scoring 25 goals.
Tokelo Rantie (Malmo to Bournemouth, €3.5-million)
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Five years ago the Parys-born, Free State striker completed a move from Swedish outfit Malmo to England where he joined Bournemouth for a fee believed to be about €3.5-million (about R54-million).
Rantie, however, failed to make the grade and moved to Genclerbirligi, a soccer side in Turkey. He is now looking for a new club.
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Thulani Serero (Ajax Cape Town to Ajax Amsterdam, €2.5-million)
When “Cream” left the Urban Warriors, his was a record from the PSL to a club outside the country. At the time, in 2011, €2.5-million (R39-million) was about R25-million and it’s more now that the local currency is weaker.