Mokoena during his young prime at the Sea Robbers. Image via X @makwande_m
Former Orlando Pirates winger, Lebohang Mokoena, has confirmed that going to Mamelodi Sundowns was all about the money.
Mokoena during his young prime at the Sea Robbers. Image via X @makwande_m
A lot of players left Orlando Pirates for Mamelodi Sundowns in the mid-2000s, and money was the big motivation.
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After making his name as a teenager promoted from the Pirates academy, Mokoena, known as “Cheeseboy,” soon needed more than the R28 000-R30 000 salary he was earning.
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“At Pirates, as a development player, you wouldn’t earn as a player that was signed from another team. I earned R6500 when I was promoted to the first team,” Mokoena said on TK Solutions TV.
“Comparing from Pirates to Sundowns, there was a big change from the salary I earned at Pirates. I think when I got to Sundowns, I left Pirates while earning around 28,000 to R30,000 after tax at the time.
“But when you play for a big team like Pirates people expect you to earn R50,000 to R100,000. Dr Irvin Khoza took good care of me when I was young. And honestly, money was not a priority at the time for me. I just loved football and wanted to play.
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The Soweto-born former star, now aged 37, added to say he was heart was moving abroad but settled for a bigger cheque and bonuses offered by Sundowns.
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“I believed that I could only make good money by playing my football overseas as in South Africa I can only make that much, but if I wanted to earn well, I needed to leave the country.
“My dream was to play overseas. Then, there was a salary upgrade when I got to Sundowns. There were incentives like match bonuses and lucrative incentives.
“Things started changing when I got to Sundowns, not that I was not okay at Pirates. I was still comfortable at the club, but things got better at Sundowns,” Mokoena added.
Meanwhile, Pirates will be playing some football this weekend.
The Sea Robbers will be making a trip to KwaZulu Natal to battle Golden Arrows at Mpumalanga Stadium in Hammersdale.