Orlando Pirates head coach Abdeslam Ouaddou says talents like Relebohile Mofokeng appears every 10 to 15 years as his performances continue to improve week in week out.
The 21-year-old has emerged as a talisman for Pirates since the return of football after the Africa Cup of Nations, with 10 goals and three assists in 11 league games as they go toe-to-toe with Mamelodi Sundowns for the league.
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His form in the 10 role has drawn plaudits which has also seen Hugo Broos now consider him as a viable option ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup and in the process major interest has also been generated in his services in Europe.
As previously reported by iDiski Times, AS Monaco are among the admirers, while an offer arrived from Spain in January – which could be rekindled in the off-season, should the move to France not materialise.
However, at present, Mofokeng is in the form of his life under the tutelage of Ouaddou – who lavished the diminutive midfielder with high praise after his display in the 5-0 dismantling of Golden Arrows under the lights eSgodoni on Tuesday evening.
“I don’t like to speak individually about players, the individual players should be at the service of the collective project, you know? And these individuals should carry the club project but as you asked the question, this kind of players? You get some like that every 10 or 15 years,” Ouaddou said about Mofokeng.
“He has talent, it’s in his blood. He’s still young of course and we need to give him some instructions to be even more efficient, especially in that area where there is lot of duels, it’s crowded, so for us as coaches, the talent he has – technique and intelligence, he has this.
“Sometimes when you have these qualities, it’s abused – our job is to make him aware about which zone he can abuse, in terms of dribbling, but there some strategic areas of the pitch, where he needs to limit his touches and use his intelligence.
“He’s been doing that now, he can assist, score, he’s mobile in the midfield, so I used to say this kind of player, it would be a shame for him to play him on the wing, on the touchline, with 180 degrees of capacity to play, this kind of players need 360 degrees to play.
“Some may think he cannot play as 10, I think he can play everywhere… [except] as a defender.”
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