Manasse Kianga goes from Rotherham Sunday league to Champions League with ŠK Slovan Bratislava

Manasse Kianga, who was playing Sunday league football in Rotherham as recently as 2023, scored an injury-time winner in the third and final qualifying round to send ŠK Slovan Bratislava into this season's Champions League; the Slovak champions are due to face VfB Stuttgart under five-time Ballon d'Or nominee Yaya Toure.

Kianga, 24, had been living in Rotherham and played for Rossington Main, helping the Doncaster side to promotion in 2022/23 while also turning out for Team Sport in the Rotherham and District Sunday Football League. Rossington Main manager Ben Hunter recalled Kianga's arrival on trial and his personality, saying: "He came to trial with Rossington and I had a look at him and straight away loved him," and adding, "He was a really great guy as well and always played with a smile on his face."

Reportedly promoted from the reserves because of an injury crisis, Kianga travelled with Slovan's first team to the Parc des Princes but missed out on the matchday squad despite registering two goals and two assists in the opening three matches of their domestic campaign. More recently he has played and scored for the Sky Blues' reserves and could be involved in their first home fixture in the Champions League's league phase.

Hunter remembers Kianga as "very raw" when he first arrived after moving to Rotherham in around 2017 and said the forward's brother, Bobby, briefly represented Rossington. "You could see his ability in terms of his speed and physical presence, but he was quite slight," says Hunter. "He stayed with us and he did really well - a lot of higher up teams were interested in him."

While at Thomas Rotherham College Kianga studied business and accounting and was part of the college's football academy. Chris Walls, the college's assistant principal, described him as a "popular and outstanding student and football player" and said he was "the best player on the pitch every match," adding: "We took him to England schoolboy trials and he made the last 30 but he couldn't get a passport in time to be in the final squad."

Kianga scored 51 goals in 115 appearances for Rossington Main and, after spells at clubs higher up the non-league pyramid, returned to play a key part in their 2022/23 promotion. Former Bradford City and Grimsby Town striker Ross Hannah, who is still playing for the club aged 40, said: "Me and him were a real problem for defenders and teams because of the way we complemented each other," and added, "It's amazing the journey he has been on."

Difficulties obtaining a permanent work permit led Kianga to move back to South Africa in 2024; Hunter was among those who travelled to court in Bradford to support him in an ultimately unsuccessful attempt to remain in England. "The world was his oyster, I really believed he could have made it pro in England," Hunter said. "He went back to South Africa and from there made a journey across Europe and ended up where he is."

Toure's Slovan began their Champions League campaign away to Paris St-Germain last month and will also face Roma and Inter Milan during the tournament's league phase, with the side now preparing for their fixture against VfB Stuttgart; Kianga could feature in Slovan's first home match of the competition.