A new South African superstar? Relebohile Mofokeng has hit the ground running with Union St Gilloise

Relebohile Mofokeng has not taken long to adapt to European football. The South African youngster swapped Orlando Pirates for Union St Gilloise and the Belgian Pro League this past summer. After eight games, Mofokeng already has four goals, with his first in European continental competition coming this past week as Union beat Viktoria Plzen in the Europa League.

A new South African superstar? Relebohile

For a long time, players like Mofokeng would have spent nearly their entire careers in domestic football. Prior to joining Union, Mofekeng had already played over 100 games for Orlando Pirates, scoring 29 goals and providing 19 assists. Now, the likes of the 21-year-old Mofokeng and fellow Bafana Bafana international Mbekezeli Mbokazi left the South African league early to begin their careers abroad. Both 21-year-olds are the future of the South African international team, and if Mofekeng keeps up this level of form, he will likely earn himself a move to a top five league in the summer. Mbokazi will also be one likely to leave the MLS in the near future, as his performances at the 2026 World Cup alerted plenty of clubs to his immense talent as a central defender.

Playing in an attacking midfield role, Mofekeng is showing how he can operate both out wide and just behind another striker, which has given him chances to run from deep, with a lot of his goals coming on the counter. Using FotMob data, we see that, compared to other players in his position in Belgium, Mofekeng is having more touches than 95%, more shots than 88%, more goals than 92% and creating more chances than anyone else. That first assist for Union cannot be far away.

Mofokeng looks like another fine bit of business from Union St Gilloise, even if he did cost them slightly more than their usual signings. He isn’t the only player to swap the South African Premier Soccer League for the Belgian Pro League this past summer. Over in Charleroi, Isaac Cissé left Lamontville Golden Arrows to move to Belgium. So far, he has played five games and provided one assist for the Zebras.

The success of Mofekeng will certainly attract plenty of other Belgian clubs to begin scouting the South African top flight more extensively, and provide a pathway for future or current Bafana Bafana players to play European football. There will be plenty of eyes on Union back in South Africa as fans of Bafana Bafana keep an eye out on how their young future superstar gets on.

GBeNeFN | Ben Jackson