How Mamelodi Sundowns lost ‘tiny’ Rele to Pirates: If Messi was born in SA he wouldn’t be Messi today

Mamelodi Sundowns had a massive opportunity to sign Relebohile Mofokeng even before he joined Orlando Pirates.

The 21-year-old was given his debut by the then Bucs coach Jose Riveiro in the late 2022/23 season, and since then, the South Africa international has been a hit in the Premier Soccer League.

However, Masandawana could be reaping the fruits were it not for their failure to keep hold of the then teen, who had shown so much potential but let down by his physique as explained by Youth football development expert Floyd Mogale.

How Sundowns lost on TINY Mofokeng

“They [Sundowns scouts in the Vaal] told us about Rele [Relebohile Mofokeng]; he was in Sharpeville, and he was 12 years old,” Mogale told  TimesLIVE podcast.

“We [as Sundowns] brought him in for the Sunday programme, and we were monitoring him. He was coming along alright, but he left immediately. I think the coaches did not understand him. Also, he was tiny; he was very tiny at that time

“He was a little bit tiny because we think a good player must be big. Augusto [Palacios] used to say ‘a player must be a gorilla’,” he added.

We are impatient

“You need to look at the parents to assess physical growth potential. With proper development and nutrition, the player will grow. But we are impatient. We look at them and say this one is too small, he won’t grow.

“You look at Lionel Messi, if Messi was born in South Africa, he would not be Messi today. We would have quickly said he must go. This is how we lost Rele at Sundowns.

“So they offloaded him there, and another coach took him to the School of Excellence for trials,”…added Mogale, who has had coaching stints in the PSL with Royal AM, Black Leopards, Chippa United, and Free State Stars.