Ayanda Patosi has revealed why he wants to join Orlando Pirates in future and opened up on the benefits of his surprise return to Iran.
Patosi, 27, is one of South Africa's mystery talents that's often been overlooked by national team selectors over the past decade despite his obvious ability.
Still contracted to Cape Town City, he's made three separate loans away from the Absa Premiership, starting with a fruitful spell with Iranian Pro League giants Esteghlal followed by a stint in the UAE with Baniyas before his move to Foolad.
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While Patosi admits he's keen to make the deal permanent with the club he's netted two goals in four games with before the coronavirus crisis halted football - he's left the door open to joining Pirates.
"At the moment I'm still contracted to Cape Town City on loan at Foolad and we are in negotiations to make a permanent deal with City, hopefully, that will go through," he told SAFJA.
"I would love to play for the top three [clubs] in South Africa but mostly for Pirates because I grew up supporting them. Hopefully, something can come up [in the future] when I want to come back home."
The former Lokeren star went on to reveal why he opted to snub other lucrative offers in the Middle-East for the move to Foolad - despite acknowledging the nation was a 'warzone' when he arrived in January.
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"Iran is the second-best in Asia according to the rankings so they league is good and unfortunately there are no fans now because of Covid-19 but usually there can be 80 000 fans in the stadiums which makes football exciting," he explained.
"I was in Dubai for six months after my first stint in Iran and I didn't enjoy it that much, it didn't work out that much - they were looking for a different type of number 10. The football was different, maybe five to 10 fans in the stadium.
"So in Iran, I'm respected more because I played for a top club [Esteghlal] before and I did well and I like the environment. I'm now in a team that is more organised, they have their own stadium and training fields, gyms, everything I need.
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"Also, our coach is a former LaLiga player that played for Iran - so everything is interesting and hopefully, I can stay permanently here."
Patosi has scored six goals and registered four assists in 17 games in the Iranian top-flight since his first loan move from City back in January 2019.
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