Kaizer Chiefs' most recent signing Bradley Cross is no surprise talent in the Betway Premiership as he was always tops in age group football and even went to Manchester City.
Cross made his debut for Chiefs with a Man of the Match showing on Saturday after completing his transfer from Golden Arrows.
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Strangely, he wasn't signed on a free when he trained with Chiefs, prior to then moving to Maritzburg United, from where he then joined Arrows.
KickOff tracked Cross' background to Mpumalanga Black Aces, where he played before moving to the youth teams at Germany club Schalke 04 in Germany and Newcastle United in England.
"I saw Bradley at a district tournament when he was 12 and brought him into Black Aces, where I coached him for about three or so years," discloses Tony Dias, who was a development coach at Aces at the time and has continued with the club, which now plays as Jo'burg City.
"He was even in the team that we took to Manchester City during the years when Aces had a development partnership agreement, which meant we could take a team every year to England.
"Bradley must have been 13 when we went to Man City with other boys now playing in Italy and USA.
"We beat Man City in one of the games there and what I always remember about Bradley is that he has always been a good player with a lovely left foot and comfortable on the ball.
"I'm not surprised at all that he is now at Chiefs because after coming through our development, he played for our ABC Motsepe [League] team from the age of 16.
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"When he came to us, he was a winger, but after I looked at him, I felt he had the attributes to play as a left centre-back.
"With Bidvest Wits, he only went there for a few months on loan for the Future Champs, which is where I think he was then scouted by Schalke 04.
"He is going to be a great signing for Chiefs," says Dias.