Percy Tau. Pic: Getty Images
Tau earned a big move from Mamelodi Sundowns to Brighton last year. However, complications in getting a work permit forced the Seagulls to send him away on a season-long loan to Union, where he won the Proximus League Player of the Season award last season.
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This season, Tau is on loan at Club Brugge in Belgium where he again continues to shine.
Hayes still holds Tau in high esteem, lauding him for succeeding in football despite not being the “fastest” or “the best”.
“This guy is actually proof that everyone can do it,” Hayes told So Foot.
“He is not the fastest, not the greatest, not the best, but he has succeeded.
“Thanks to huge talent, of course, but also to his enormous hard work.
“How do you make it clear to a child who does not have the physique of a Drogba or an Essien that he can do it? It is complicated.
“Percy proves that a normal guy, the local guy, can get by.”
Tau’s contract at Brighton runs until 2022.
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