Legendary manager Jose Mourinho is said to have held talks with The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) over becoming their next head coach.
Mourinho is currently in charge of Serie A side AS Roma and has often claimed he would only quit club football for the Portugal national team when he feels his time is over for the day to day hustle and bustle.
However, NFF President Amaju Pinnick revealed they opened discussions with him about potentially succeeding Gernot Rohr.
Austin Eguavoen is currently primed to lead the Super Eagles on a caretaker capacity to the Africa Cup of Nations next month – subject to the NFF not landing their man before then.
“Of course Mourinho, I am not going to tell you we didn’t talk to Mourinho because we did and the (sports) minister also talked to Mourinho and there is nothing wrong with it,” Pinnick told The Daily Trust.
Former Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger was another named bandied out by the NFF – who claim they are in ‘no rush’ to make their next choice.
“If the coach will give us the Nations Cup, he will be drafted in immediately. I am not going to tell you that it will be later, because of what essence is the recruitment? If the executive committee says yes and we are ready, what are we waiting for?
“When I spoke with one of the coaches on Tuesday, he was already scouting our players and was telling me things I didn’t even know about our players. It was quite impressive and he told me the strength of each player and he took me off guard. We are not going to experiment and if he can win the Nations Cup, no problem.
“We know Eguavoen can do it, but we also want someone who can do it better. If we are unable to sign him soon, then we will work with the current team. But I am not going to tell you that if we have him signed today, he is not going to lead the team to the AFCON.”
