Nigeria wants Jose Mourinho to take over as Manager, but will he say yes?

Published: December 28, 2021

Nigeria football chief Amaju Pinnick has revealed that he has spoken to Jose Mourinho about becoming the next manager of the Super Eagles, but will Mourinho say yes?

For the past few weeks, Nigeria has been without a manager after Gernot Rohr left after six years in charge of the country's national team.

According to Beton.ng, the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) is looking at Jose Mourinho to be the next manager of the Super Eagles which would make him eligible to lead the country at this year's African Cup of Nations.

Why would He join the Nigerian team?

Although Mourinho has no Africa Cup of Nations experience – he only had two years managing in Portugal before taking over Manchester United – his resume speaks for itself.

Only two men have won more trophies than him: Sir Alex Ferguson and Pep Guardiola. Can anyone think of someone else who compares to those legendary coaches?

Even 1xBet is taking the odds of whether Mourinho will join the Nigerian team and the odds are leaning very favorable to him not going the team as manager.

How can NFF afford him if they get him on board?

The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) is looking for a foreign manager that can handle Nigeria's national team.

The NFF is willing to pay handsomely for his services and has set aside $1.5 million annually for their new coach.

When it comes down to cost per victory: if their new manager is able to win at least half of his games -- which would be just under 15 victories in two years -- they'll be getting more bang for their buck than any other country on earth except maybe Saudi Arabia or Thailand.

What if none of this works out and the Nigerian team gets stuck with Rohr at the helm again?

Rohr's done a reasonable job at getting Nigeria out of group stages and making them competitive again. But how much better could they be with someone like José Mourinho at their helm?

After all, his Chelsea side not only dominated in defense but also was among the best-attacking teams in Europe in his time at Stamford Bridge.

Not an ideal situation for any team: Forget about politics; it wouldn’t be ideal for any player or manager to play under two different managers within a year or so apart from one another.

The players would have zero sense of continuity, which would make it difficult for them to retain form. It can go well if handled well (as witnessed by Arsenal), but that depends on individual cases more than anything else.

The outcome – Is the Nigerian team good enough to win next year’s AFCON trophy yet? (positive)

No. Yes. (negative) [also insert links where you can find out more about each outcome]. Is it really possible for Nigeria to win in 2022 with an English coach at their helm?

This question has been hotly debated since last year’s edition of AFCON 2015 which was won by Cote d’Ivoire in Equatorial Guinea.

Many believe that even with a local coach, winning AFCON with the current Nigerian team will be a tall task because of the politics of the NFF.

Photo Credit : chelseafc.com