Orlando Pirates forward Monnapule Saleng has opened up on his loan spell at Swallows and described how he felt playing against his parent club.
Saleng was signed from the now defunct Free State Stars in 2021 after he topped the goal-scoring charts in the Motsepe Foundation Championship but was immediately loaned out to Swallows to get game time for the 2021/22 season.
Upon his return to the Buccaneers at the beginning of the current campaign, the 25-year old struggled to break into the team and only made his first start in October last year, in a crucial MTN8 semi-final first-leg against Mamelodi Sundowns at Orlando Stadium.
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Saleng was a revelation in that game despite a goalless draw and has not looked back since then as he inspired Pirates to the MTN8 triumph, scoring the decisive goal in the final against AmaZulu and has netted 14 goals to date in all competitions, including ten in the league.
The North West native opened up on his loan spell at Swallows and says playing with experienced players helped him adjust quicker to playing in the Premiership.
"I learnt a lot from Swallows, because I arrived during a time of experienced players, such as Vuyo Mere, Cheeseboy Mokwena, Musa Nyatama, Thela Ngobeni and a lot more," Saleng said in an interview with Pirates media.
"So when you arrive there, you find experienced players who play in the PSL and they give you motivation and they build you as a player because it's your first season. The tempo of the NFD (National First Division) is not the same as the PSL obviously," he said.
The Bafana Bafana forward also explained how it felt coming up against his parent club and says it "hurts" and gave him the "hunger to perform".
"When I was on loan playing against a big team, the exact team that loaned you, there is so much pressure but you must play your game because you want to play but it's against your team," he said.
"It gives you the hunger to perform. It pushes you to perform but it hurts playing against them but I stayed on my own level because I played soccer the normal way I'm used to playing, I did not want to impress, I play my own style," he added.
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