Mamelodi Sundowns prodigy Cassius Mailula's proposed move to North America has been given the greenlight following revelations that he is close to joining Toronto FC.
Toronto are based in Canada but have their first team playing in the Major League Soccer where superstar Lionel Messi now plays his football for Inter Miami.
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Mailula finished off his rookie season playing first team football at Sundowns with top numbers.
The 22-year-old had a dream debut season scoring 15 goals in 31 appearances after being promoted from the club's reserve team.
"The fact of the matter is that the MLS is a higher standard league than the PSL," says former Maritzburg United goalkeeper Dominic Sithole, who now lives in Canada.
Sithole – who also played for University of Pretoria and African Warriors – has extensive knowledge of both the PSL and MLS.
"If a team with a profile like Toronto is keen then that is even bigger because this is a big team.
"Just look at the profile of the kind of players in their books.
"They have Lorenzo Insigne and Federico Bernardeschi so that obviously means the boy will benefit from having these guys as his teammates.
"Who wouldn't want to have guys who have played at the highest level?
"Toronto has the money which is why they have such top players so there are no issues in that space.
"At Toronto, there are players coming in from Europe so that should inform you about the kind of standard of football here.
"This boy (Mailula) has a better chance of proceeding to Europe from here than if he was in the PSL.
"Plenty of the European teams are in Europe for friendly matches every year and get to play teams like Toronto so he will rub shoulders with the big teams in Europe.
"At his age, his path to Europe will be easier.
"Alfonso Davies went to Bayern Munich from Vancouver Whitecaps after being spotted by Bayern.
"This is a perfect move for the Sundowns boy at his age," says Sithole.
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