Former Mamelodi Sundowns coach Rhulani Mokwena reveals how Algeria's 'unfortunate legalities and laws' denied him chance to re-unite with Thembinkosi Lorch at MC Alger

South African tactician Rhulani Mokwena has been a huge fan of Thembinkosi Lorch owing to his style of play and effectiveness in the final third.

The versatile attacking midfielder joined Mamelodi Sundowns from Orlando Pirates in the short transfer window of the 2022/23 transfer window, which, reportedly, contributed to his unceremonious exit from the club a couple of months later. 

When he took over at Wydad Athletic Club at the beginning of the 2024/25 season, the tactician signed Nyoso, albeit on loan.

The now 32-year-old shone for the club, eventually pushing for his services on a permanent basis at the beginning of the ongoing campaign.

Prior to his move to his current home, Wydad Casablanca, Mokwena wanted to sign him for MC Alger, but the deal didn't go through.

The 38-year-old has since shed light on what happened between the parties. 

“I don’t want to sound critical because I don’t have the basis of; there’s always context, you know, where does the rule come from?" Mokwena opened up in an interview with SAFJA.

"There’s always context, and I would assume that the people responsible for the football in Algeria make the rules for the benefit of the football in the country.

“So to be overly critical of it, would be immature from the sense that I don’t have enough knowledge or time in Algerian football to be able to comment on it; it is a bit of a surprise, there were many players we could have brought in, not just the [transfer rule] but also the restriction to having only four foreign players, which I like a bit more than the age restriction," Mokwena added.

“And also that foreign players must have a certain number of caps, I like that a little bit more, but maybe when you look at the average age of the league, maybe it’s to in the short or medium-term, to try and address that, maybe not enough youngsters are given chances.

“Maybe the country wants to try to advocate for more usage of Algerian youngsters, and there’s nothing wrong with that, in trying to keep the Algerian game alive.

"Maybe they thought this was one of the measures that they felt would have a greater influence," he further clarified.

“I think it’s an extremely challenging rule that prohibits quite a lot of the recruitment, but it’s one that I would think there’s a lot of research and thought processes behind making it, and without proper context, it’s very difficult to give my opinion whether it’s correct or not.

“I can only express the challenges I found in the previous window in trying to improve the squad and recruit the right type of player.

“Because sometimes, a player like Lorch, for example, would have been a player that possibly would have joined us, but was unfortunate with the legalities and laws that prohibited us from trying to explore that possibility," Mokwena concluded.

Lorch has been trending in South Africa due to several reasons, but all are associated with football.

This season, the attacker has been on song in Morocco with Wydad Athletic Club, who are at the summit of the Botola Pro League.

In nine games played across all competitions, Lorch has scored five goals - four of which have been in the Moroccan top-tier.

Despite his form, Bafana Bafana coach Hugo Broos overlooked him in his squad to play Zambia on Saturday in the international friendly to be staged at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium.

Mokwena has since urged Lorch to continue with his consistency and might get his chance in the future.

“It might not necessarily be a direction [of snubbing Lorch], for one, agree with, or maybe you agree with on many aspects, but I think with the success that he’s had, he has worked to deserve a little bit of credit to make certain executive decisions that we might not all agree with," he stated.

“But I think in the success that he has had, I think he deserves to continue to lead us the way he has been leading us, and to receive all our support. I think it is the most important for me, is to continue to support the coach and continue to support the boys, because what they are doing as a country is incredible.

“And for Lorch, he just needs to have a look at Themba Zwane as a source of inspiration, because Themba was in the same position as he is in at this moment in time, just a few months ago," the former Sundowns tactician concluded. 

Lorch has been doing well since his move to Morocco, but at 32, he has a couple of years in top-flight football.

In some cases, like that of Themba Zwane, he can go up to 38, and who knows, he might make a return to Bafana Bafana in the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

All he should do is continue with his exploits in North Africa, and things will unfold in his favour.