Bad news for Lucas Ribeiro Costa! Kaizer Chiefs legend - who is set to vote for the winner - backs Orlando Pirates star Relebohile Mofokeng to win the PSL Footballer of the Season award - 'He carried Bucs throughout'

AmaZulu head coach Arthur Zwane has stated that Orlando Pirates forward Relebohile Mofokeng is his preferred choice for the Premier Soccer League Player of the Season.

The Kaizer Chiefs legend has said Mofokeng was Pirates' standout star, and thus, he deserves the award.

Going by the fact that Mamelodi Sundowns are the PSL champions, Zwane believes Lucas Ribeiro deserves the award, but says there are unique achievements that make him prefer the Pirates youngster.

“I don’t want to sound controversial, but I think when you look at Rele [Mofokeng], he carried Orlando Pirates throughout this season,” Zwane said as quoted by SportsWire.

“I don’t want to sound controversial, but I think when you look at Rele [Mofokeng], he carried Orlando Pirates throughout this season

“You look at Ribeiro. Obviously, Sundowns won the league, so to be quite honest, he deserves it. But Rele, as a youngster, doing what he has done this season, carrying a team, a giant on his shoulders, I think it was something else. It was amazing," he added.

“And his peers are seeing him performing at this level, and now we are talking about a player that will definitely go to the Fifa World Cup [if Bafana Bafana qualify]. I don’t want to say, “I’m picking him; I’m not a national team coach."

Zwane is also hopeful that Mofokeng is going to retain his slot in the Bafana Bafana squad for the Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) finals and the World Cup qualifiers.

“But looking at how coach Hugo Broos does things and also how he integrates [younger players] into the senior national team, and obviously for him it is a big jump, because he never played for the U/20s and U/23s like his peers. But he’s an exceptional talent. So, there is no doubt that he is going to make the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations [later this year] and the World Cup," he added.

“Also, credit to be given to his coaches, all the coaches from the School of Excellence, coaches at Pirates like Dukuduku Makhanya [Pirates DDC coach], who spotted the talent and made life easy for the first team as well as for these players to be promoted and coach Jose Riveiro for believing in them, giving them opportunity," Zwane continued.

“You look at the equalizing goal from Pirates [scored by Simphiwe Selepe on Saturday]. So, it tells you that South African football is going far in that regard. But, Ribeiro, there is no doubt [that he will win the Footballer of the Season because of winning the league].”

Ribeiro is one of the top candidates to win the award, but Mofokeng looks to have secured one vote already, with Zwane saying he deserves it.

The AmaZulu tactician is eligible to vote since nominations and voting were exclusively conducted by the Premier Division head coaches.

Iqraam Rayners, who had an impact at Sundowns for scoring 14 goals, is also touted as a potential winner of the award.

He has one more chance to shine, given that Pirates will conclude their campaign against Magesi FC on May 28.

Bucs' fans will also follow the PSL awards keenly to see whether their star will win any of the gongs to be contested.