Orlando Pirates coach Jose Riveiro has explained why the club signed Deano Van Rooyen despite having four players in that position already.
Pirates signed right-back Thabiso Lebitso from Chippa United as an addition after only having Thabiso Monyane when Bandile Shandu was injured.
Lebitso fitted like a glove in the Pirates team, unfortunately, like Shandu, he also got injured during the preseason in Spain which then left Buccaneers with only Monyane once again ahead of the 2024/25 season. This then prompted Pirates to snap Van Rooyen from Stellenbosch FC just after the MTN8 started.
Riveiro admitted that the club had to think ahead of time as they have lots of competitions to compete in this season and it was impossible for Monyane to play in all of them.
“Pirates is not only Riveiro as a main man or the only one. This is a big club there are people making the decisions in the club they are thinking ahead, they are already far from this season,” Riveiro told Times Live.
“We started the season with Thabiso Lebitso, Thabiso Monyane and Bandile Shandu in that position. Shandu is taking more time than we expected to be back, unfortunately, Lebitso got injured in our last game in Spain not a minor one he is gonna be out for a while which takes us to a scenario where we will only have Thabiso Monyane in that position, so we need another player there even though we have interesting prospects from the academy.
“Deano is giving us the opportunity of the player that is ready to perform, he showed already that he can make an impact in the team.
“He is used to competing for trophies already coming from Stellenbosch and doing a fantastic job there with the rest of the team.
“For us it’s a guarantee of immediate competition for the starting eleven and a guarantee whenever he is on the field, he will give us something.”
