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Cape Town - Bidvest Wits have confirmed the capture of Granwald Scott and Thato Thlone with coach Gavin Hunt making an early move to boost the Clever Boys' chances of lifting the PSL trophy.
Former Ajax Cape Town player Scott has signed a two-and-a-half year contract with the option of an additional two years after spending last year at Slovakian side, Sk Slovan Bratislava.
Bidvest Wits is pleased to announce that Granwald Scott has joined the Clever Boys with immediate effect, & Thato Tlhone from July 2017. pic.twitter.com/ocvrKmwnXl
— Bidvest Wits (@BidvestWits) January 5, 2017
The 29-year old decided to move back to the PSL after an indifferent time at the Slovak giants, who were themselves experiencing a transitional period.
When declaring his intention to return to South Africa, up to six local teams including Orlando Pirates showed a strong interest in capturing his signature with the Clever Boys moving quickest in persuading his agent to give them a first option to purchase.
It has always been the Cape Town born player’s goal to realise his dream of playing in Europe and he feels that his time at Slovan was an invaluable experience.
“The training in Europe is vastly different to the PSL as it is much more intense and forced me to improve as a player," Scott told Sport24 exclusively.
“The games were also a learning experience as it required me to raise my fitness and concentration levels and not many local players can say that they played in the Europa League.
The addition of Scott could prove to be an influential acquisition by Wits coach, Gavin Hunt, as they look to be one of the favourites for the PSL title this season.
Scott added that choosing Wits was an easy decision to make as they are a one of the best run clubs in the country with a squad consisting of winners.
“Firstly, I always wanted to play for coach Gavin Hunt and I like the style of football that Wits play because they are a team with clever ball players which will suit me and they are winners," Scott reveals.
“I am convinced that Wits have a strong chance of contending for the championship and I am very driven to help them as best I can to achieve this as it is the only trophy that I haven’t won domestically yet.
“Personally I feel that any professional player's career won’t be 100% fulfilled without winning that major trophy.
“When training with Wits recently they made me feel very welcome over the two days that I was there and I immediately felt very comfortable as there were players such as Nazeer Allie, Moeneeb Josephs and Thulani Tshlatshwayo who I know from my Ajax days.”
“I feel that even though Wits are a very successful team there are no egos in the side as it felt like one big family and I enjoyed the training as it was well organised with the players helping me settle.
“Lastly, I would like to thank the club chairman Jose Ferreira for believing in me and wanting me to be part of the Wits family as well as coach Gavin Hunt and the rest of the board members who were very welcoming and showed me that they appreciated my capabilities as a footballer."
Wits will resume the second-half of the Absa Premiership on February 7 when they welcome Ajax Cape Town to the Bidvest Stadium.
