Nigerian Football Federation president Amaju Pinnick has revealed that he has spoken to Arsene Wenger and Jose Mourinho about the vacant post of director of the national team. Gernot Rohr was sacked earlier this month, just weeks before the start of the Africa Cup of Nations in Cameroon.
Wenger has not been successful since leaving Arsenal after 22 years in 2018 and is currently FIFA’s Head of Global Football Development.
Mourinho, however, is currently AS Roma boss after leaving Tottenham Hotspur earlier this year.
The Portuguese series winner has guided Roma to a mixed start to the season on their return to Italian football.
They are currently sixth in Serie A, outside of European places, but have dominated their Europa Conference League group.
And Pinnick approached the two legendary Premier League coaches about working in Nigeria in a bizarre story.
He said: “I also spoke with Arsene [Wenger]. Arsene is our technical director at FIFA. I had an interface with him about some of these coaches.
“And, of course, [we spoke to] Mourinho. I’m not going to tell you that we haven’t spoken to Mourinho.
“They are some of the best coaches in the world. And there is nothing wrong with that because he [Wenger] is also concerned with the way we are.”
Pinnick wants two main traits from his candidates — good discipline values and a thirst for winning trophies.
“The focus on the new coach is discipline. We will be looking at his disciplinary background,” Pinnick said.
“Secondly, we will also look at how hungry he is to win trophies, because if they are hungry it replaces so many things, and if he wants to win he will instill discipline.
“We will be looking at all of these things, but I cannot speak emphatically as I will undermine my executive committee.”
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