Orlando Pirates assistant coach Mandla Ncikazi has disclosed that Jose Riveiro was looking to bring Mbekezeli Mbokazi with him when he joined Al Ahly in June.
The Spaniard left the Buccaneers in May after three years with the club, where he won five major trophies. Riveiro joined Al Ahly before the 2024/25 season ended to prepare for the FIFA Club World Cup in June.
The Red Devils had a poor showing at the tournament and already, there were talks of the ex-Pirates coach not finishing his term in Egypt. Just a few matches into the season, Riveiro was sacked.
Ncikazi, who worked with Riveiro at Pirates, said the coach wanted to poach Mbokazi.
“There’s a good thing that can’t be claimed by one person in our club, there’s a scouting department that’s doing a good job,” said Ncikazi as per iDiski Times.
“When you look at the TLB, Mbokazi. It’s scaring to see such a young boy at that age, who’s at that level now.
“Everyone is commending him, Jose wanted him in Egypt. And also we had a meeting with the Bafana coach Hugo Broos, he says this boy has to go play in Europe.”
Riveiro wanted to poach Mbokazi from Pirates?
Ncikazi has praised the generation of talent Orlando Pirates have produced in the past few season.
“It’s been a while since we had such a special talent at that age. But then we have a lot of talent at Pirates, the likes of [Simphiwe] Selepe that you haven’t seen this season, [Relebohile] Mofokeng who was also identified in a different way.
“Our club is doing an unusual, maybe other clubs will also learn. We got [Lebone] Seema where he was not even playing as a regular but look at where he is now, you can see our scouts have a sharp eye in identifying a talent that can fit into the team.”
Riveiro was the one who gave Mbokazi his debut earlier this year when the team had several defenders injured. Since his debut, the 20-year-old has been impressive and is regarded as the best defender in the league.