The Nigeria Football Federation is said to be in talks with Emmanuel Amuneke to take up the coaching job Super Eagles following the recent exit of Jose Peseiro from the position.
Reports making the rounds on social media suggests that the football body wants the former Nigeria forward and former coach of Tanzania to take up the job ahead of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers.
It will be recalled that NFF on Saturday appointed Head of the Technical Department Augustine Eguavoen as the interim coach of the team after Peseiro announced his departure upon expiration of his contract after he guided Nigeria to second-place at the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations in Cote d’Ivoire.
Prior to this time, both the Ministry of Sports Development and the NFF reportedly made frantic efforts to re-engage the Portuguese, offering a staggering $80,000 monthly pay, as against the $120,000 demanded by the coach, in addition to his assistant being paid directly by the NFF.
This may have forced the NFF into talks with Amuneke, who is one of several coaches to have expressed interest in the position, including Sunday Oliseh, Finidi George, Tom Saintfieth, Ndubuisi Egbo, and Andrew Uwe.
A key member of the 1994 AFCON-winning Super Eagles team, Amuneke coached the Nigeria U17 national team to win the World Cup in 2015.
On August 6, 2018, he was appointed as the coach of the Tanzania national team. He managed to qualify for the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations, but he resigned from training the team after losing all three games.
He was named the manager of Egyptian Premier League club Misr Lei Makkasa in February 2021, with his role changed to director of academies in March 2021.
He became assistant coach of the Nigeria national team in February 2022.
