Benni McCarthy has agreed in principle to become the new manager of the South Africa national team.

The former Rovers striker is currently in charge of AmaZulu in his native country, having previously managed Cape Town City.

McCarthy, now 43, looks set to move on to his biggest job yet however, and take charge of Bafana Bafana, according to reports in South Africa.

South Africa are currently without a manager following the sacking of Molefi Ntseki following their failure to reach the 2022 Africa Cup of Nations.

Quarter-finalists in 2019, they won’t be part of the 2022 competition in Cameroon after losing to Sudan in their final qualifying match.

McCarthy’s work with AmaZulu, taking them from strugglers to table toppers, has seen him linked with the top job for some time, with Carlos Quieroz among those said to have rejected the chance to take over.

Talks with the South African Football Association are said to have taken place, with McCarthy said to be discussing his backroom team.

The striker moved into management after calling time on his playing days a decade ago.

He enjoyed spells across Europe with Ajax, Celta Vigo and Porto before landing at Rovers in the summer of 2006 where he would become a hit with fans during an excellent four year spell.

He passed half a century of goals for the club, including 24 in a debut campaign that ended with him scoring six times in the final seven league games as Rovers qualified for Europe as well as having reached an FA Cup semi-final.

McCarthy scored double figures in each of the next two seasons, but by January 2010 he had been moved on, signing for West Ham United.

Despite having played in Holland, Spain and Portugal it is England where McCarthy has set his sights on managing long-term.

"My main priority is that I want to get back to England - I want to manage in the Premier League one day or I want to manage a Championship club,” he said in an interview with the BBC earlier this month.

"After playing there I have had that taste of what the best league in the world is about and what is required of you so that is mouth-watering and that is my biggest desire."