In all competitions, the Zambian international scored 35 goals to cap a fine season that also saw him winning the Player of the Season award.
Now, at the age of 31, Mbesuma is turning the clock backwards to those glory days when he used to mesmerise the crowds with his goal-poaching abilities.
After just six League matches, the Mpumalanga Black Aces striker is leading the pack with five goals and is proving to be a driving force for Muhsin Ertugral’s team.
Ajax Cape Town striker Nathan Paulse is breathing down Mbesuma’s neck with four goals while George Lebese (Chiefs), Mpho Makola (Orlando Pirates), Eric Chipeta (Chippa United), Prince Nxumalo (Ajax Cape Town) and Andrea Felicia (Free State Stars) are all on three.
Former Bafana Bafana striker Phil Masinga, who was a prolific scorer himself during his heyday with the likes of Jomo Cosmos and Mamelodi Sundowns, says while he is crossing his fingers for one of the local strikers to score between 18 and 20 goals this season, he was not willing to put his head on the block and predict who was likely to scoop the award.
“A few seasons ago we had Bernard Parker scoring four goals against AmaZulu and this was within their first seven games of the season, but he was later overtaken by the other players,” Masinga tells snl24.com/kickoff.
“There are many factors at play here like whether or not a player can maintain his form or whether or not they will be affected by injuries during the season.
“So for now I think it is too early for anyone to try and predict the top scorer. We should actually focus on trying to encourage our strikers to score more goals so that we are able to market our local League internationally.”