Orbit College head coach Pogiso Makhoye says Monnapule Saleng wanted to return ‘home’, leading the team and looking sharp for the start of the 2025/26 season.
After one of the most dramatic and drawn-out sagas in recent history in South African football, Saleng’s move to Orbit still caught many by surprise as one of the leading talents in the country returning to his boyhood club on loan upon their debut season in the top-flight.
Saleng, 27, was among the stars of the Buccaneers, a player who made the difference on so many occasions with his individual brilliance and clear fan favourite but will now be in the colours of the newly promoted side who finished second in the Motsepe Foundation Championship and won the promotion/relegation playoffs against Cape Town City and Casric Stars.
“It’s like he’s never left the club, in the two games we’ve played, he’s fitted in like a glove, he knows the culture of the team, he knows the surroundings, he knows the players, it’s the players he grew up with,” Mokhaya said when asked by iDiski Times if Saleng can rediscover himself at the club this season.
“It’s the players he was with before he went to Free State Stars and now coming back it’s an addition to what we have because we never relied on one player, we had 11 players that can perform. Even Saleng – he knows that there’s 10 players he will be playing with.
“He will also help us, he left as boy and he’s coming back as a man right now with a lot of experience and he’s leading the team right now.
“He wanted to be back at home, and I said ‘welcome, we’re happy to have you, please come and make sure this team doesn’t get relegated’. He’s happy, he’s enjoying his football.”
Saleng scored 25 goals with 17 assists in 70 games for Pirates since joining the club from Free State Stars in 2021 and spent time on loan at the now-defunct Moroka Swallows before establishing himself at the Soweto giants.
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