Bafana Bafana head coach Hugo Broos says he won’t consider dropping Relebohile Mofokeng as he knows his form will go through dips at his current level of experience.
Mofokeng, 20, has had a slight dip in form of late with Broos suggesting it could be the weight of expectation as he’s developed into a key figure of Orlando Pirates as they challenge on all fronts this season.
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With eight goals and 12 assists in 35 games this season, he’s amongst the most influential young talents in African football at present and has become a regular call-up under Broos, making five appearances in the last eight games.
“There’s so much [noise] around Rele at the moment, teams who are interested and certainly there’s already speaking about this [money], also the pressure on him, eight months ago nobody knew Mofokeng and then suddenly he explodes with Pirates,” Broos said about his recent dip in form.
“He’s become a very good player and everyone has expected, I don’t know what from him but he’s only 20, he’s only playing one full year in a team like Pirates, so you see now he’s getting a little dip, the level a bit less.
“I can’t drop him now that his level is a bit less, I will always support him, but he has to get over this, it’s up to him. He plays in a team now, who at a certain moment could have been champions, so they expect more from him than six, seven months ago.”
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Broos admits it may also be a hard task for the reigning Young Footballer of the Year in the country to handle the thoughts of his long-term future, with speculation rife that he could be in his last season with the Soweto giants.
“This is normal evolution of a young player who suddenly gets to a high level and people start to expect a lot of him, with a lot of interest… it affects you. You can’t say okay it’s my agent to do that – somewhere in your head it becomes busy,” he added.
“Where am I going to play next year? Will I leave Pirates? Which team am I going to play for? So yeah – it’s totally normal that now Rele is not achieving the level he had a few months ago. But from my side he will always be supported because he’s a very good player. And I knew it would happen.”
Mofokeng was named in the final 23-man squad by Broos on Thursday afternoon for the upcoming 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers against Lesotho and Benin.
