'Don't overhype him, he still has a lot to do': Mokwena on Nasir

Mamelodi Sundowns co-coach Rulani Mokwena wants people to be patient and give more time for the club’s new star player, Abubeker Nasir, to settle in SA.

Despite having played only 56 minutes since joining Masandawana this season, the Ethiopian has shown glimpses of the star footballer he is — and how crucial he is going to be for the DStv Premiership defending champions.

Coming off the bench, the 22-year-old forward scored a beautiful goal as Sundowns demolished Kaizer Chiefs 4-0 at Loftus Stadium in Tshwane on Saturday.

Nasir also came off the bench and played for 26 minutes in Sundowns’ 1-0 defeat to TS Galaxy last week.

Mokwena cautioned against overhyping the young talent, however, which he said might prevent him from reaching his full potential.

“He still has a lot of work to do and he is going to improve. The way we play and the way we train, players are bound to improve. And the same expectation can go to Nasir,” he said.

“I plead for patience, time and not to overhype him because he is still young and with incredible potential.”

Nasir signed for Sundowns during the January transfer window period, but was loaned back to his former Ethiopian club Ethiopian Coffee SC.

“When we signed him, he went back to Ethiopia and spent six months there. We had to get an English tutor to spend a bit of time with him, so that the level of English can get better,” Mokwena explained.

“Now it is at a relatively good standard, although we have had to hire a translator because he was struggling with some of the instructions and the information we wanted to bring to him.

“I also want to thank the club for supporting that motion because when we made that plea, immediately on the next day we had a translator on the training pitch working with us.

“Even before we brought him on, we had to bring in the translator to get the message across.

“But he has incredible potential, surrounded by other incredible players.”