A former Super Eagles midfielder, John Mikel Obi declares interest in becoming one of the backroom staff of the senior national team npflupdates.com reports.
Mikel was part of the Super Eagles team that won Nigeria’s third Africa Cup Of Nations (AFCON) title in 2013. Also, he led Nigeria to a bronze medal finish at the 2019 edition of the AFCON that was hosted in Egypt.
Also read: NFF : It’s Your Choice To Chose 25 Players For New AFCON, Federation Drags Peseiro
And since retirement from active football, the former Trabzonspor playmaker, who seldom talks to the media during his active days told CNN that he’d like to be part of a Super Eagles set-up.
During the interview with CNN, the 36-year-old was teased about becoming the manager of the three-time African champions. And almost immediately, the former Chelsea midfielder distanced himself from the pressure and talked about a more diplomatic role.
Mikel Obi talks about a possible reunion with the Super Eagles
According to him, he’d not want to be Super Eagles head coach, as he dislikes being sacked(as underperforming coaches normally gets sacked.) But will consider other diplomatic approaches once it’s offered to him.
“Not definitely, I will love to one day but I don’t want to be a manager. I don’t want to be sacked. I hate getting sacked,” Mikel was quoted by PUNCH Nigeria.
“I don’t think I can handle that really well, but in some capacity, I will love to be involved again with the national team. I want to be somebody who will try to fix the problem from the top,” he continued.
“If it means to be a mediator between the players and the FA to make sure things are run properly, we have the right people managing what we should do together to succeed. For me, I think that is where we should start from.”
In another story, Nigeria President, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, has released funds that will clear all outstanding bonuses of owed national team coaches(staff).
This was development was revealed through a post on X (formerly Twitter) by one of the president’s media aide.
“President @officialABAT has approved the payment of N12billon outstanding backlog for Nigeria’s National teams of various sports, which includes super eagles and others,” the post read.
Also read: why I Converted Mikel To A Defensive Midfielder – Mourinho
According to the statement, the “payment entails the clearing of the senior national team coach salaries running up to 15 months, payments of allowances and promises due to the senior national teams, females, and Under-20 national team.”
