Orlando Pirates have reportedly opened talks with Rulani Mokwena over the possibility of replacing Jose Riveiro.
Mokwena is without a job after leaving Moroccan giants Wydad Athletic Club last month and has been on the radar of Egyptian teams and now Pirates have entered the race in a bid to bring him back to the club where he worked as an assistant and briefly as head coach.
According to iDiski Times, Pirates opened talks with the former Mamelodi Sundowns coach early this week and are looking to have him in place early so that he can prepare for the team’s pre-season tour of Spain in July.
The reports come one week after Mokwena admitted on Soccer Africa last week that he would be open to coaching Pirates if the job was offered to him.
Will Mokwena make Pirates return?
“Of course, I would. I would consider. It’s a big club and has people close to my heart, a man I am very fond of in Dr [Irvin] Khoza and he will always have a special place in my heart,” said Mokwena when asked if he would be open to joining Pirates.
“I have learned from the three best football leaders on the continent. Dr Khoza is no.1. Patrice Motsepe, the things he taught me at Mamelodi Sundowns are unbelievable, and the third is Hicham Ait Menna. I enjoyed working with the coach president of Wydad.”
If the two parties reach a deal, then the 38-year-old will make a return to the club where he worked for over two years, having initially joined in 2017 from Sundowns when he became assistant coach to Serbian tactician Milutin ‘Micho’ Sredojevic and in August 2019 after his boss resigned, he was made interim coach.
Tactician knows the Buccaneers too well
He managed 14 league matches, winning four, drawing five and losing as many, before he was replaced by Josef Zinnbauer in December that year with many viewing his spell as underwhelming.
Mokwena stayed at Pirates as assistant to Zinnbauer but on March 4, 2020, he joined Chippa United as head coach on a short-term contract until the end of the season.
He would silence his doubters when he returned to Sundowns in 2020, initially working as co-coach with Manqoba Mngqithi, before he was made head coach and implemented an exciting style of play while winning four PSL titles as well as the African Football League.
