Former Orlando Pirates head coach Jose Riveiro admits he wasn’t surprised by the transfer of attacker Mohau Nkota to the Saudi Pro League.
Nkota joined Al-Ettifaq in July 2025 just a season after being promoted from the Pirates development ranks. The 21-year-old enjoyed an impressive debut season with the first team where he featured in 39 matches, had a 12-goal contribution and also broke into the senior national team.
His former coach is back in the country doing promotional work for the Carling Cup and spoke to Andile Ncube on Sports Night Live where he expressed that Nkota’s transfer wasn’t a surprise and it’s good for the league.
“Good for him, good for the league to attract even more attention,” said Riveiro.
“I think those transfers with young players is something that will benefit everybody in the long run, in the long term. I think the participation of Mohau in the league was short from his debut till he left. We are talking about maybe I don’t know seven, eight months.
“So, [I’m] happy for him, happy for league, for the club as well and I don’t think he’s the last talent that is going to move out. I think it’s always controversial you know to say it’s good to lose talent in our league.
“But at the same time, you are creating space for somebody else who is coming behind, and I think everybody gets to benefit from that.”
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