Bafana Bafana coach Hugo Broos says he is not overly concerned that winger Relebohile Mofokeng is not in top form this season.

The 20-year-old had retained his place in the Bafana Bafana setup, ahead of the FIFA 2026 World Cup qualifiers against Zimbabwe (October 10) and Rwanda (October 14).

However, the Orlando Pirates attacker has been withdrawn due to injury and replaced by Mduduzi Shabalala of Kaizer Chiefs.

On national team duty, Mofokeng was benched against Lesotho and Nigeria last month, but Broos reckons the speculation about the player’s future played its role in his loss of form.

“What happened with Rele, you can expect that,” said Broos.

“There was interest from everywhere in the world. Every team wanted Rele, and then I had a feeling, okay, there are—how do you say that in English?—people going out trying to sell him.”

Mofokeng, who reached 100 appearances for Orlando Pirates recently, was linked to Minnesota United (USA), Al-Ettifaq (Saudi Arabia), and PSV Eindhoven (Netherlands), as well as Israeli rivals Maccabi Tel Aviv and Maccabi Haifa.

“I think this is what happened with Rele, and it’s not good for the player. At a certain moment, you are only thinking about that; you can’t focus anymore on football.

“That is what happened with Rele, but his qualities are still there, and I will not drop him like that,” insisted the Belgian.

“So he (was) with us, and we will try to give him confidence again, and I try to talk a little bit with him also; he has to focus on football and forget all the rest. It will come.”

The Sharpeville-born attacker boasts eight Bafana Bafana caps since his debut against Zimbabwe in June 2024.

His injury setback comes at a time when he’s increasingly under pressure to replicate his form of the past campaign.