South African star Bongani Zungu has seen his market value take a shocking dip following arguably his worst spell in his career.
The former Mamelodi Sundowns star was tipped to reach great heights in Europe after first making his mark in Portugal before moving to the French top flight however, in the space of just over two years, things have taken a turn for the worst!
Zungu first made a name for himself at the University of Pretoria before being snapped up by Mamelodi Sundowns in 2013. It was at the Brazilians where ‘Ben 10’ become one of the hottest midfielders in the Premier Soccer League (PSL).
After winning two league titles with Pitso Mosimane, Bongani Zungu made the jump to Europe after sealing a move to Portuguese outfit Vitoria Guimaraes.
Bongani Zungu takes Europe by storm
Zungu swiftly became a regular at the Portuguese top flight outfit after shining for their reserve team, and before he knew it, he had already sealed a move to Ligue 1’s Amiens SC.
Bongani Zungu was a standard feature for Amiens during the 2017/18 campaign. Despite joining the club after the league had began, he still managed to make 28 appearances for the club.
Amiens finished in 13th position on the Ligue 1 log standings with Zungu being a key figure for them. The 2018/19 season saw Zungu missing 27 matches through a knee injury before making a return with just three games to go in the season.
His return however came as a major boost to Bafana Bafana who had qualified for the 2019 AFCON in Egypt. Bongani Zungu proved his class once again in national team colours after turning out a number of stunning performances for Stuart Baxter’s side.
Zungu scored twice in four appearances at the 2019 AFCON and interest from across Europe was reportedly pouring in following the tournament! At the time, Zungu was valued at approximately R62 million.
And then came the decline…
The 2019/20 campaign saw Bongani Zungu’s Amiens get relegated from the French top flight. The Bafana Bafana also missed out on a deadline day transfer to the Spanish top flight outfit Mallorca in January. In total, Zungu made 24 appearances for the season.
Following Amiens’ relegation, Zungu looked for a move away from the club. He eventually secured a sensational move to Steven Gerrard’s Rangers in Scotland.
Bongani Zungu joined the high-flying Scottish side with high expectations however not many could’ve predicted what was to follow. It turned out to be Zungu’s worst season in his career.
He was punished by both the league and his club for breaking COVID-19 protocol after attending a party with his ‘younger’ teammates and ultimately never recovered from that.
His reputation had taken a major knock and the club decided against signing him on a permanent basis following his original loan spell at the end of the 2020/2021 campaign.
Zungu was then forced to return back to Amiens, who are still campaigning in the French Ligue 2. He’s yet to make an appearance for the club this season following a delayed arrival in France.
As of today, Bongani Zungu is worth just R17 million. It’s incredible to note that the player who not so long ago was projected to reach the R100 million valuation mark, is now worth less than many PSL stars.
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