Former Orlando Pirates coach Fadlu Davids has painted a picture of a difference in projects between Nasreddine Nabi's FAR Rabat and Kaizer Chiefs after the Tunisian coach chose Botola Pro over the PSL.
Nabi was in high demand towards the end of last season, with his three-year contract running out at Young Africans after notably winning back-to-back league titles and enjoying two cup successes.
The Tunisian tactician also had inspired Yanga to their first ever continental final, becoming the first Tanzanian side to do so in the 2022/23 season, after losing out on CAF Confederation Cup honours to USM Alger.
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Chiefs were heavily linked with Nabi towards and after the 2022/23 campaign, and rumours of the 58-year-old coach joining the club intensified after he left Yanga following the expiry of his Yanga contract intensified.
Locked in negotiations with Chiefs, it is understood that the Glamour Boys could not agree on certain terms with Nabi and his camp and the deal fell through, as the Tunisian was eventually appointed by FAR.
Davids, currently assistant coach to Josef Zinnbauer at Raja Casablanca, who are in a title race with FAR, explained, in an exclusive interview with KickOff, what it would have taken for Nabi to revive Chiefs compared to the Moroccan club.
"If you compare the two teams and the status of the two teams, Nabi came to the club that had already won the league. The structures were in, maybe one key player getting sold to Al Ahly, but they made top signings," Davids revealed.
"Kaizer Chiefs would be a different project to try to bring back the glory days, so very similar to us taking over Raja. Raja is a very big club in terms of support, very similar to Kaizer Chiefs, probably the most-supported team, and Raja is quite similar.
"Of course, Wydad (Casablanca) is another club with a huge fan base, you could probably say Raja and Wydad are like Kaizer Chiefs and (Orlando) Pirates and probably FAR like Sundowns with the biggest budget," he explained.
Davids, along with former Zinnbauer, has awaken sleeping giants Raja, as they finished fifth last season before their arrival and.
The former Pirates coaches have made the Green Eagles title contenders again, as they are just four points behind leaders FAR, with a game in hand and with only four games remaining.
"We took a club to try to build from the ground up in terms of the squad. 14, 15 players left and we brought in about nine, 10 players. An extremely small squad. There were more players that left in January as well," Davids said.
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"So, we're working on 12, 13 (core) of players but a strong squad of 22, to really build the club, to put in the structures, put the structures not only in the first team but really to look into the club's holistic entity and not only build success for this season but, say, for the next 10 years."
Raja reached the quarter-finals of the Moroccan Throne Cup after thrashing HUSA 4-2 last weekend.
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