The head coach of the senior national team of Nigeria Jose Peseiro is already planning his next career move in the event that he fails to reach an agreement on extending his stay ahead of the start of the world cup qualifiers, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.
Peseiro’s deal ran out at the end of last month, a few weeks after leading the team to the final of the Africa Cup of Nations, where they were beaten 1-2 by the host Cote d’Ivoire in the final of the tournament.
For getting to the final, the coach surpassed the target of semi final to get a new deal but talks have stalled, due to disparity in what he wants as salary and what the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) offered for a new deal.
As we exclusively reported, the Portuguese coach wants a monthly salary of $120,000 while the NFF in their opening offer proposed paying him $50,000 month. The same terms he was on with his former contract that just expired, he rejected it and a new offer of around $80,000 was tabled for him to consider.
While the NFF are waiting for a response and have set a deadline of at most the end of the month for a response, the coach is spreading his options with reports in South Africa saying he has made himself available to lead their team in the event of the departure of head coach Hugo Broos.
Broos’s future is uncertain despite leading the team to a bronze medal finish at the AFCON were they were denied a spot in the final by Peseiro’s led Super Eagles side in the semi final. Broos is said to be contemplating leaving his role to take up a post on his home country in Belgium.
Although, the South Africa Football Association (SAFA) through their president Danny Jordan has said the 71 year old will stay in his job till his deal run out in 2026, Peseiro has made himself available in the event that the role becomes vacant.
South Africa are in the same world cup 2026 qualifiers group with Nigeria one point behind South Africa in 3rd position on two points after two games. Both teams will clash in June when the qualifiers resumes and Peseiro won’t mind leading them out against the Super Eagles according to citizen.co.za.
“Coach Peseiro is keen on getting the Bafana job, said the source. “He loves what he has seen with the team at the AFCON and he is certain that he can build a formidable national team. There has been a lot of talk about Hugo Broos leaving, I think that is why he has made himself available for them (SAFA)’, the online publication reported.
“For him, it’s not that he wants to kick Broos out of the job, but, he just thinks that if he leaves, then SAFA (South African Football Association) should consider him as their next coach. I think at the moment the association doesn’t know whether Broos will be staying on as the coach or what because there are lots of things that he is unhappy about. The World Cup qualifiers are coming up soon and we might see some changes before then.”
Mohammed Mowiz Suleiman
