Evidence Makgopa dreamed of a career overseas, but a new three-year contract at Orlando Pirates suggests that may not happen, writes Mazola Molefe.
Orlando Pirates will celebrate having secured the signature of one of their important players over the last three seasons, but for Evidence Makgopa perhaps the dream of moving abroad is slowly fading.
The lanky striker has put pen to paper on a new three-year contract and recommitted his future to the Soweto giants even as coach Jose Riveiro exited and moved on to Al Ahly.
Prior to Pirates signing Makgopa from Baroka FC and loaning him back to the Limpopo outfit, the Bafana Bafana international was poised for a stint abroad following several enquiries.
Reports linked the player with a possible transfer to Israel before AGF in Denmark tabled an offer of around R10 million, which strangely was rejected by Baroka in favour of selling both Makgopa and Goodman Mosele for significantly less.
Makgopa could have had another chance recently after a good showing at the Africa Cup of Nations with Hugo Broos’ side where they clinched a bronze medal in Ivory Coast with the striker leading the line.
Like a lot of his national team colleagues, there was a lot of noise about how the world had recognised South Africa and were set to raid the Premier Soccer League considering the majority were based in the local league.
But not a single member of that squad benefited immediately, with winger Elias Mokwana only joining Espérance de Tunis from Sekhukhune United at the end of the season and was part of their Club World Cup squad.
Makgopa is represented by an agency with a vast network overseas, hence two solid offers that were proposed to Baroka in 2021.
But even they can only do so much, with Pirates reluctant to take any first offer that comes through the door.
And with another Africa Cup of Nations around the corner in December, for Makgopa to move to a new league could mean the time to find his feet could be coming too before a major tournament gets underway.
Broos will not hesitate to leave him out of the team if he is not getting regular minutes, and for Makgopa if anything abroad is to be manufactured – maybe the Africa Cup of Nations is the ideal hunting ground.
The national team coach has never hidden what he likes about the 25-year-old.
“I’ve like him since I’ve been here, because he’s a guy with potential and everybody was surprised that he went with us to AFCON, and they were even more surprised that he played,” Broos said.
“But I think when you see the performances of Evidence you can only be happy.”
“So, he’s not a fantastic big player but he’s so useful for the team. And I see it now also in Pirates, I see him playing, he’s so useful for the team, he starts scoring also. He’s confident. He’s a type of player that we don’t have, tall, good with the head. When the opportunity is there, Evidence will always be with us.”
The three-year-deal at Pirates feels as though Makgopa has stagnated, but not all is lost as the upcoming continental showpiece presents one final opportunity to impress.
