Former Nigerian striker, Julius Aghahowa, has rejected the decision of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) to hire a foreign coach, stressing that the football body can’t afford Herve Renard as the new head coach of the Super Eagles.
Aghahowa stressed that the NFF might not be able to pay Renard’s requested salary of $125,000 per month. Hence, he urged the football body to be realistic about the financial constraints of hiring a coach of that calibre, especially given the difficulties in paying the previous coach’s (Jose Peseiro) lower salary.
Recall that Peseiro earned around $50,000 monthly as Super Eagles coach until his contract expired on February 29, 2024. Before the NFF settled for Finidi George as Eagles’ coach, the football body tried to extend Peseiro’s contract, but they couldn’t because the Portuguese tactician was demanding better pay. 
Due to how expensive it is to maintain a foreign coach, Aghahowa urged the NFF to consider a good local coach, advocating for fair compensation and adequate time for them to develop the team.
“The coach (Herve Renard) is a very good coach; he has experience; when it comes to African football and even world football, we have to be realistic,” Aghahowa told Brila FM.
“Can we afford him with the price tag?
“Even when the former coach was handling the team and he was earning about $50,000 to 70,000, it was difficult for us to pay him.
“We owed him for months, and now we are talking about almost double that amount; where are we going to get the money from?
“We might not pay them as much as the foreign coaches, but pay them well, give them enough time to build the team, and I have confidence in our local coaches.”
