After some prolonging years, the 26-year-old Kamohelo Mokotjo finally got what he deserves: a move to the English league. Championship side Brentford decided to take an well-educated guess and bought the South-African midfielder for just one million euros. An unreal deal which will benefit Brentford in the long run. There are tons of reasons why. Beneath, I will explain a few of those very same reasons.
He was one of the best players at FC Twente. Just like he was in the two campaigns before that. Mokotjo is a defensive midfielder who combines his vision and positioning in both defence as when going forward. Especially his passing has been, once again, magnificent. The 26-year old completed 1884 (!) passes in the 2016-17 season, more than any other midfielder in the Eredivisie.
His composed behaviour on the ball have made him a trustworthy player on the pitch. Because of his status at the club, everyone was more than comfortable with giving him the ball. The likelihood of him doing something good with it rapidly grew throughout the season.
By now, you are probably wondering why Mokotjo hasn’t left the club earlier. There is a simple reason for this. It has been a long life dream from Mokotjo to play in England. And the bureaucratic nonsense revolving around non-EU players and the English competitions has been stopping many transfers in the past and won’t change in the near future. Especially with the upcoming Brexit. Mokotjo needed a work permit, but he wasn’t granted one for several years. I won’t bore you with the details, but non-EU players need to play for their national team. Something which he didn’t do because of a falling out with the manager back then.
The coach called him “sluggish” and “lazy” because of his composed and calm playing-style. Like calling Zlatan Ibrahimovic insecure, you couldn’t be more wrong. Safe to say, that coach is currently unemployed and Mokotjo is rising to the top.
In this day and age, buying a such a magnificent player for just one million euros is an unbelievable piece of business from Brentford. The biggest reason why he will excel: his so called “lazy” play-style. The Championship is a competition where it’s 90 minutes of complete chaos and then you’ll desperately need a player who can slow things down and lets everyone take a breather.
The probability of Brentford getting to the play-offs (or even direct promotion to the Premier League) has increased significantly with his arrival. Even if “Kamo” won’t highly influential, which I extremely doubt. He was just a million. I think Mokotjo will proof his worth and I would be surprised if the 26-year old doesn’t play in the PL after the upcoming campaign. With, or without Brentford.