Toni Silva reveals why he decided to join Mamelodi Sundowns

by Phumzile Ngcatshe

Wednesday Jul 04, 2018. 15:00

New Mamelodi Sundowns striker Toni Silva has revealed that the Brazilians have showed interest in signing him for a long time.

The Guinea Bissau international has spoken out on his decision to move to the South African Premier Soccer League champions after what seemed to have been a promising career in England.

Silva signed a five-year deal with Sundowns, ending an 11-year stay in Europe, where he played for Benfica, Liverpool and Portugal at youth level.

Speaking during their pre-season camp, the 24-year-old has explained what happened between his time trialling with Chelsea and his failed stint at the Merseyside giants.

He also said Sundowns’ persistent attempts at luring him to the Absa Premiership ultimately convinced him to return to the African continent.

“I was in England for five years, I played at two teams. I was at Chelsea and then Liverpool, where I spent three years. I was in the second team and never got a chance to make it to the first team,” Silva tells KickOff.com.

“But I used to train with the first team, and because I never got a chance to play with the first team I decided to leave. You know, England is England – you know the story [it’s tough to play there].

“I did have offers and interest, to be honest. But I decided to come to South Africa just to try different things, on a different continent also.

“I was raised in Europe for most of my life, I lived there for about 17 or 18 years, and now I decided to come to Sundowns because this was not the first time they tried to sign me – they’ve been trying to sign me since two years ago.

“So, because they didn’t stop and kept banging, banging [on the door] and I finally decided to take the offer and now I’m here.

“It’s been nice. Everything’s cool and there are good people here, and I’m just taking it step-by-step and day-by-day, so I’ll get there.”