Duro Ikhazuagbe with agency report
Former African Player of the Year, Victor Nosa Ikpeba, has warned Coach Eric Chelle, not to consider dumping the Super Eagles job to go and accept the vacant manager role at French club Olympique Marseille.
The Mali-born coach who last month led the Super Eagles to bronze finish at the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco is widely tipped to replace Roberto De Zerbi who left Marseille last week.
But Ikpeba, who featured for another Ligue 1 club AS Monaco in his hey days, warned that Marseille have been an unstable club, who quickly run out of patience with any coach when the results are not favourable.
“If I were to personally advise Eric Chelle, I will tell him not to consider the Olympique Marseille job because they quickly lose patience with the coach when things are not going well,” Ikpeba told SCORENigeria.
“They are no doubt a very big club, but they don’t take kindly to any excuses when things are not going well.
“It’s the same with their fans. They can’t stand a defeat.”
He continued: “My advice to Eric Chelle would be for him to get a new contract with the Super Eagles and continue to build his profile, which has been enhanced since the AFCON in Morocco, where Nigeria played some beautiful attacking football resulting in the team emerging highest scoring side with 14 goals in the African showpiece.
Apart from Marseille, Tunisia, Guinea and Angola are believed to be after the gaffer with Tunisia FA ready to double his salary in Nigeria if he accepts their off. Chelle is currently on $55,000 monthly wage with the Super Eagles. It is likely to be reviewed upward when his contract runs out in the next one year.
Although Chelle is yet to make any statement on the speculations, President of the Nigeria Football Federation, Ibrahim Musa Gusau however insisted midweek that the Super Eagles supremo is going no where.
“We (Nigeria) still have a one-year contract with Eric (Chelle) and anyone who has an interest on him would have to wait until his contract expires.”
The NFF chief stressed further that “the dream of any coach is to achieve success, especially at higher tournaments. So it is not about money but would he achieve something greater out there? Will the teams have the materials for him to work with in order for him to achieve what he wants to achieve? These are the keys ingredients for a coach to think about,” observed Gusau.
He revealed that Chelle has so much belief in the senior Nigerian team and has bonded well with the players .
“Coach Eric has so much belief in the Super Eagles and he has the confidence that he can achieve all his dreams with the team which is the key thing for any coach before accepting offers from any team or country,” observed the NFF President in reaction to the speculations last week.
