Al Ahly coach Pitso Mosimane was full of praise for Mamelodi Sundowns star Sphelele Mkhulise following his side’s 2-0 win over his former employers in the Caf Champions League quarter-final first leg clash in Cairo on Saturday.

This was the first time Mosimane came up against his former side since parting way with the club in October 2020.

However, Mosimane was the one who gave the 25-year-old his promotion to the Brazilians first team back in 2018, where he has already scored five goals and assisted two from 65 appearances across all competition.

Mosimane believes that Mkhulise has a bright future ahead of him and has compared him to having traits of both N’Golo Kante and Andres Iniesta.

‘Sphelele Mkhulise is a wonderful player. He is similar to [N’Golo] Kante and [Andres] Iniesta. He is a promising young man, and I was behind his promotion to the first team, and today he has shown his quality,’ Mosimane told journalists after the game.

Mosimane further explained that his comments about Mkhulise is purely based on how the midfielder has evolved since Pitso handed him his promotion to the first team.

‘I do not want to talk much about the Sundowns players because the media will say that I want to sign them for Al Ahly. The only player that we have already negotiated for Al Ahly was Gastón Sirino,’ Mosimane explained.

‘It was a difficult match, but we knew how to manage it and we have no excuses because Al Ahly is a big team. Sundowns is a great team, and their off-ball movements are good. They are among the favorites to win the Champions League because of their style of playing.’

Ahly will take on Sundowns in the return leg of the quarter-finals at Loftus Versfeld Stadium on Saturday, 22 May, with kick of scheduled for 3pm.