Mamelodi Sundowns coach Pitso Mosimane believes national under-20 sensation Luther Singh would have been the perfect replacement for Keagan Dolly, who left in January to join French Ligue 1 side Montpellier.

Sundowns tried to sign the rising star in January, but Singh signed for Portuguese outfit Sporting Braga from Swedish club GAIS instead. Mosimane even tried to convince Singh's mentor Farouk Khan to get the player on board.

Singh, 19, is already being compared to Benni McCarthy after his stunning hat-trick inspired Amajita to a 3-1 victory over Cameroon at the ongoing U-20 Africa Cup of Nations in Zambia on Monday.

"We wanted to sign him. I saw footage of him and I distributed the footage to my coaches and we liked what we saw. We saw the speed [and] aggression. We saw his age and we said 'wow, this can be the one to come in for Keagan'," Mosimane told Sowetan yesterday. "I would have loved to have him here."

Singh currently plays for the Braga reserves, but Mosimane feels joining Sundowns would have given the youngster exposure, especially in continental club football.

Mosimane is confident Singh would have gone on to play first- team football in Europe .

"I can argue that Luther would have been better here and learn, so that he can go there direct and not be in the reserve team."