Orlando Pirates winger Mohau Nkota has stood out as the best newcomer of all players who made their professional debuts before turning 21 during the 2024/25 season.
Nkota has shrugged off competition from fellow teammate Mbekezeli Mbokazi, Malibongwe Khoza of Mamelodi Sundowns, TS Galaxy’s Khulumani Ndamane, and Gabriel Amato of Cape Town City amongst the newcomers.
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With the curtains now down, he will look back to a debut season which came with a massive 39 appearances.
Doing his job with pace and plenty trickery cutting in from the right wing, he had seven goals plus five assists across all competitions as a new kid on the block.
Nkota was 19 years 10 months and 20 days when he made his debut against Richards Bay FC at the end of September last year after having been on the bench a couple of times.
The Pirates development graduate came to replace Gilberto that day and within a month had two goals to his name after he struck a brace against AmaZulu FC.
It then got even more interesting when he scored twice again on the day he made his CAF Champions League debut away at CR Belouizdad in the group stage.
His Champions League campaign ultimately ended with four goals and two assists after he scored again on the other two occasions that he travelled to North Africa to play against MC Alger and Pyramids FC.
For a player who wasn’t even in the picture during the qualifying rounds of this competition, this was a huge achievement.
Nkota also watched the MTN8 campaign from the stands and the bench.
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With his first season over, there has been the reward of a call-up to the Bafana Bafana squad currently in camp for friendly matches against Mozambique and Tanzania.
Still so much more to work on with his game but encouraging debut season for the 20-year-old.
