When he left SA for Europe three years ago, Percy Tau had a dream to play in one of the top leagues in the world. We thought it might not happen when the club that signed him from Mamelodi Sundowns for a record R50m, Brighton & Hove Albion, sent him out on loan to a third-tier team in Belgium.

Naysayers had a field day, pointing out that Tau was being wasted at an obscure club instead of blossoming in the top echelons of world football as his talent demanded...