Recently, South African players have found it rough in the Premier League, always struggling to make an impact as opposed to the past when the likes of Steven Pienaar, Benni McCarthy, Shaun Bartlett, Lucas Radebe, and the likes excelled.
Currently, there is no Bafana Bafana player in English top-flight football after the relegation of Lyle Foster's Burnley at the end of the 2023/24 season. Percy Tau failed to command his place at Brighton & Hove Albion and he eventually ended up at Al Ahly in Egypt.
However, the likes of Nigeria and Ghana have consistently produced players for top leagues in Europe. Celebrated tactician Ptso Mosimane has now opined why it is tough for the country to produce players to compete at the highest level in Europe.
Mosimane shares his mind – ‘You must have the right product'
“Look, it is a concern for me and I was banking on Lyle Foster and now look what happened; I was banking on Percy in the Premier League, the same way Pienaar, Benni McCarthy, and Shaun Bartlett represented us, but we don’t have anybody now and it’s not nice,” Mosimane told Radio 2000.
“We need to have the right product and the right players. Did you hear what John Barnes said about South African players? He said that we have players but we don’t easily have the right type of player for the English Premier League but West Africa has that type of player for the Premier League.
“Watch the Nigeria team play South Africa, where is that flair or whatever? But those guys are playing for AC Milan and Napoli. Why is that?
“It’s because you must have the right product for the right market. Maybe we have the right product for the Kasi flavour which is good. I don’t think there’s anybody who can beat us if there was a football tournament about that. We have the technique and skills but if you want the product to play at the World Cup maybe it’s [Evidence] Makgopa. Maybe he’s that kind of a player.”
Players who have been linked with a move abroad
A couple of players in the Premier Soccer League have been tipped to leave for greener pastures overseas.
The 19-year-old Orlando Pirates star Relebohile Mofokeng tops that list owing to his performances in the country. Teams from Holland and Scotland are reportedly interested in the youngster who tried with Wolverhampton a couple of months ago.
Mamelodi Sundowns star Teboho Mokoena has been linked with Bournemouth while Khuliso Mudau was rumoured to be on Burnley's radar.
Shandre Campbell of SuperSport United is another player who has been heavily linked with an overseas move, the same as Bucs man Tshegofatso Mabasa who scored 16 league goals to win the 2023/24 PSL's Golden Boot.
