Major Soccer League outfit FC Cincinnati have reportedly become the latest club to register an interest in signing Orlando Pirates’ 20-year-old sensation Relebohile Mofokeng.
According to Soccer Laduma, the American club has become a serious contender for the services of Mofokeng, who is regarded as one of the brightest young prospects to come out of South Africa in a long time.
This follows news that Israeli clubs Maccabi Haifa and Maccabi Tel Aviv are also interested. Last week, it was reported that Maccabi Haifa had approached Pirates to enquire about the player and were told they needed to cough up R31 million.
However, with the volatile situation in the Middle East, Mofokeng is unlikely to make the move, leaving the United States as a strong possibility.
At FC Cincinnati, Mofokeng would line up alongside former Kaizer Chiefs star Teenage Hadebe, who joined the club last August. The Zimbabwean international previously played for Houston Dynamo.
After two years of running rings around defenders in the Betway Premiership, Mofokeng has been urged to move abroad in order to keep growing as a footballer. He has in the past been linked with Spanish giants Barcelona.
A move to the United States might not be good news for Bafana Bafana head coach Hugo Broos, who has left Minnesota United’s Bongokuhle Hlongwane out of the national team for the last two years.
Hlongwane was a regular fixture in the Bafana side before moving to the United States. Previously, it was felt that Broos did not think the MLS was of a high quality, but last year, he said Hlongwane was just unlucky as he had to leave some players out.
“So those are choices you have to make, and I know there was a time two years ago when the choices were much easier to make because we didn’t have so many players who were able to play in Bafana Bafana,” Broos said last year.
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