The defender who is an absolute must for Bafana Bafana's 2027 AFCON qualifiers this month

[p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/makhanya-olwethu/Io2gXoT8/"]Makhanya[/a] has been sensational for new club [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/rangers/8vAWQXNS/"]Rangers[/a] in the Scottish Premiership this season and helped them to a [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/soccer/celtic-QFKRRD8M/rangers-8vAWQXNS/?mid=2mlC4rlg"]3-0[/a] League Cup quarter-final win over old foes [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/celtic/QFKRRD8M/"]Celtic[/a] at the weekend.[/p][p]The 22-year-old has been so good that he has been likened to former Rangers favourite [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/boumsong-jean-alain/GptCZY2J/"]Jean-Alain Boumsong[/a], not just for his defending but also his ability to carry the ball forward and initiate attacks.[/p][p]There appears to be some disbelief in Glasgow that they managed to get such a cultured player for only £3 million from [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/philadelphia-union/Szrwix67/"]Philadelphia Union[/a] in Major League Soccer.[/p][p]Makhanya did not get a look-in at the World Cup, with [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/mbokazi-mbekezile/zg795kmf/"]Mbokazi[/a] and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/okon-ime/EFI44jgD/"]Ime Okon[/a] preferred, but with the former injured and the latter used sparingly this season by 2. Bundesliga side [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/hannover/dfNCCCzS/"]Hannover[/a], there is every chance Makhanya starts against Guinea on September 26.[/p][p]It has not been all plain sailing for the defender, who admits he struggled to find a club as a teenager and thought about giving up the game.[/p][image alt="Olwethu Makhanya's career numbers in the league" id="c0125d1a-ae52-4ecd-ad8d-cfc0c12a42ed" credit-line="Flashscore" guid="e0b8f714-889e-4940-91b2-28fc1e31271c" original-width="2160" original-height="2700" /][p][b]“I started playing football at a very young age,” [/b]Makhanya told Scotland’s Daily Record.[/p][p][b]“My dad would come back from work and would take me to training and during games he would come and watch me play.[/b][/p][p][b]“I would wake up and go to school like any normal kid, but I was thinking about football all the time. Everything for me was around football because that is what I have been doing my whole life.[/b][/p][p][b]“When I was 16, that is when I left home for the very first time. I went to Johannesburg looking for better opportunities, but when I got there it was a difficult journey for me.[/b][/p][p][b]“I went to multiple teams trying to get signed and nothing was happening. I ended up calling my mum. I told her, ‘I just want to come back, maybe focus on education because maybe football is not for me.’[/b][/p][p][b]“She just said, ‘You told me you were going there, so don’t come back until you do it.’ So I just had to keep on going until things came through for me.[/b][/p][p][b]“I had money to come back home but I decided to use it to go to a different city in search of more opportunities because my mum said I had to finish what I started.[/b][/p][p][b]“I ended up flying to [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/polokwane-city/ADz8rR88/"]Polokwane[/a] and that is where I signed my first professional contract at academy level with [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/marumo-gallants/Gnghzo3C/"]Marumo Gallants[/a]. If it wasn’t for my mum, I don’t think I would still be playing.[/b][/p][p][b]“My family have been really supportive and they have been so important, especially my mum and dad. I don’t really come from a home that had a lot, but they always made sure I had soccer boots and everything I needed.”[/b][/p][image alt="Olwethu Makhanya's numbers this season" id="c704b7d7-75be-48ab-997a-9dfa29defa2e" credit-line="Flashscore" guid="51204db7-cc18-40ca-adec-837efdaa489e" original-width="2160" original-height="2700" /][p]He ended up moving to [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/stellenbosch-fc/fJsWcA5b/"]Stellenbosch FC[/a], where he made his debut as an 18-year-old, and was then swiftly off to the United States and Philadelphia Union before his move to Scotland.[/p][p][b]“As for my form, I would say so far, so good. I feel like I’ve been settling in well,”[/b] he said. [b]“To be honest, even before I came here, I always felt like I could play at this level, at a higher level. So I wouldn’t say I’m surprised because coming in I already had the belief that I’d do well.[/b][/p][p][b]“I feel defensively there’s a very good partnership between me and (centre-back partner Manny) [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/fernandez-emmanuel/KWRglvco/"]Fernandez[/a], with [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/penrice-james/6RHXygfI/"]James Penrice[/a] on the left and obviously [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/sterling-dujon/Cfi2K342/"]Dujon Sterling[/a] on the other side.[/b][/p][p][b]“I feel like there’s a lot of understanding and the guys have worked with me very well. So it makes it easy for me to be part of the group.”[/b][/p]