Orlando Pirates midfielder Makhehlene Makhaula expects Relebohile Mofokeng to endure a difficult campaign in the DStv Premiership this time around.
The 19-year-old winger broke through into the Bucs first team in the 2022/23 season where he made two league appearances, scoring one goal.
Last term Mofokeng featured 38 times across all competitions, weighing in with five goals and six assists.
He was a sensation for the Soweto giants as he helped the club to the MTN8 title and Nedbank Cup honours – where he netted the winning goal in a 2-1 win over Mamelodi Sundowns.
Now with his second full season set to commence, Makhaula admits that defenders will now be wise to the player, who will have to up his game.
Makhaula said in the Citizen: “This is going to be a very difficult season for Rele because as you’ve seen towards the end of last season, teams were planning (to stop him).
“I think this season it’s going to be tough for him because teams will be focusing on him. That’s why I’m saying that the (Mohau) Nkota’s and other youngsters in the team, it would be nice of them to take the pressure off him.”
Makhaula, however, believes that Mofokeng’s talent will nevertheless shine through and went on to compare him with 17-year-old Spain and Barcelona star Lamine Yamal.
He added: “Rele is a boy with a big heart and when he’s on the field, he creates magic. He’s a very difficult player. He’s young but he is on another level.
“I can say that (he is similar to Lamal) because remember when he came to Pirates senior team, we had the likes of (Thembinkosi) Lorch, but you could see that he’s the future of the team.
“The boy practically carried the team. Last season when chips were down, we looked up to him to carry us through. He would tell you, ‘grootman (big brother) don’t worry we’ll do this thing’ and he would do it.”